Microprocessor control of bladders in footwear soles with internal flexibility sipes

ABSTRACT

A sole section adapted for use in a sole of a shoe or other footwear which includes at least a bottom sole portion. The sole section includes at least two inner bladders each of which contains a fluid, and at least a part thereof is located in a single frontal plane cross-section of the sole. The sole section also includes a duct and/or valve providing fluid communication between the inner bladders, an electronic control system including a microprocessor that controls the fluid communication and an outer bladder. The inner bladders are inside the outer bladder and separated from the outer bladder at least in part by an internal sipe formed by a portion of an inner surface of said outer bladder and a portion of an outer surface of each of said inner bladders. The surface portions of the sipe oppose each other and can slide relative to each other.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/472,645, filed on May 16, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,562,678; which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/457,990, filedApr. 27, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,567,095; which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/357,332, filed on Jan. 24, 2012, nowU.S. Pat. No. 8,561,323; which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/802,930, filed May 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.8,256,147, which is a continuation-in-part of prior U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/802,033, filed May 18, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.8,291,618, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/282,665, filed Nov. 21, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,141,276,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/629,384,filed Nov. 22, 2004, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/629,385, filedNov. 22, 2004, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/629,523, filed Nov.22, 2004, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/633,664, filed Dec. 6,2004, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/634,781, filed Dec. 9, 2004,U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/634,782, filed Dec. 9, 2004, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/672,407 filed Apr. 18, 2005, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/677,538, filed May 4, 2005, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/679,182, filed May 9, 2005, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/700,179, filed Jul. 18, 2005. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/802,033, filed May 18, 2007 claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/801,381, filed May 19, 2006, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/802,103, filed May 22, 2006, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/802,779, filed May 24, 2006, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/808,819, filed May 26, 2006, all of whichapplications listed above are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to all forms of footwear, including street andathletic, as well as any other products benefiting from increasedflexibility, better resistance to shock and shear forces, and morestable support. More particularly, the invention incorporates devices asa unitary integral insert or component with at least one internal (ormostly internal) sipe, including slits or channels or grooves and anyother shape, including geometrically regular or non-regular, such asanthropomorphic (or animal) shapes, into a large variety of productsincluding footwear using materials known in the art or their current orfuture equivalent, as well as materials that are very firm compared tothose taught in the art.

Still more particularly, the unitary internal sipe insert or componentprovides improved flexibility to products utilizing them, as well asimproved cushioning to absorb shock and/or shear forces, includingthrough the use of firm materials, while also improving stability ofsupport, and therefore the siped devices can be used in any existingproduct that provides or utilizes cushioning and stability. Theseproducts include human and other footwear, both soles and uppers, andorthotics; athletic, occupational and medical equipment and apparel;padding or cushioning, such as for equipment or tool handles andfurniture; balls; tires; and any other structural or support elements ina mechanical, architectural or any other device. Still moreparticularly, the integral insert or component with at least one sipe,including in the form of a slit, can include a media such as a lubricantor glue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material,including a magnetorheological fluid.

The invention further relates to at least one chamber or compartment orbladder surrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal(or mostly internal) sipe, including at least partially in the form of aslit, for use in any footwear soles or uppers, or orthotic soles oruppers, including the use of firm materials, and for other flexibility,cushioning, and support uses in athletic equipment like helmets andapparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medicalprotective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protectiveflooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, andmany other uses.

The internal sipe integral insert or component invention further can beusefully combined with the applicant's prior footwear inventionsdescribed in this application and expressly incorporated by referenceherein below, including removable midsole structures and orthotics andchambers with controlled variable pressure, including control bycomputer, for example.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Existing devices are generally much less flexible than would be optimal,especially products for human (or animal or other biological-based)users, whose non-skeletal anatomical structures like bare foot solesgenerally remain flexible even when made hard by significant pressurecaused by body weight, whereas the products interfacing directly withthem are often much more rigid.

Taking footwear soles as one example, cushioning elements like gasbladders or chambers or compartments are typically fixed directly inother midsole foam plastic material to form a structure that is muchmore rigid than the sole of the human wearer's bare foot, which isrelatively soft when unloaded and hard but still flexible when loadedunder body weight. As a result, the support and cushioning of the barefoot are seriously degraded when shod in existing footwear, since therelatively rigid shoe sole drastically alters by obstructing the way inwhich the bare foot would otherwise interact with the ground underneatha wearer. The effective natural interface is replaced by an inferiorartificial one.

The use of open or external traction sipes—that is, sipes in the form ofslits or channels that typically are substantially vertical and open toan outside surface, particularly a ground-contracting surface—to providealso flexibility in footwear soles has been fully described by theapplicant in prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS.55A-55C, 56, 57, and 73A-73D of both the applicant's prior footwear U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/190,087, published as Pub. No.2005/0268487 A1 on Dec. 8, 2005, and the applicant's prior orthotic U.S.Pat. No. 7,010,869, issued Mar. 14, 2006, (as well as continuation U.S.application Ser. No. 11/108,034, published as Pub. No. 2005/0217142 A1on Oct. 6, 2005), and in FIGS. 35-40 of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/179,887, published as Pub. No. US2005/0241183 on Nov. 3, 2005, all ofwhich foregoing U.S. patents and published applications are hereinincorporated by reference for completeness of disclosure.

The applicant first described such non-traction oriented open externalsipes in footwear in PCT Application PCT/US90/06028 titled “Shoe SoleStructures Which Are Siped to Provide Natural Deformation Parallelingthe Foot” filed 19 Oct. 1990 and published by WIPO as Int. Pub. No. WO91/05491 on 2 May 1991. Such open external sipes principally provideflexibility to the footwear sole by providing the capability of theopposing surfaces of the sipe to separate easily from each other.However, external sipes are structurally unlike natural anatomicalstructures (since to be effective, they must be much deeper than surfaceskin texture like finger prints, the closest anatomical analogy).

Also, external sipes tend to introduce significant instability bycreating excessive edge weakness in the shoe sole adjacent the sipes,just like a paperback book being unable to support weight when standingon end with the pages vertical, but stable when the book and pages arelying flat. External sipes by being open also collect debris in thesipes, seriously reducing sipe performance. In addition, the mostoptimal pattern and depth of such sipes is unknown and thereforedifficult to ascertain directly, except as an error-prone trial anderror process guided by second-guessing nature, since deep, open sipesare obviously not used in the design of the human foot. Moreover, theonly way to get relatively seamless, continuous natural flexibility likethe human foot sole using external sipes is to introduce a very largenumber of deep sipes on as many different axis as possible in the shoesole, which produces an impractically soft and unstable shoe sole, theuse of which would be roughly like trying to stand on the edge of alarge urban area telephone book.

Instead, a much more reasonable and fool-proof procedure is to follow asclosely as practical the natural design of the human anatomical footsole structure with which it is intended to interface to create theclosest-to-natural flexibility.

The use of a integral component with internal sipes in footwear soleslike those described in this application overcome the problems ofexternal sipes noted above and are naturally more optimal as well, sincethey more closely parallel structurally the natural anatomicalstructures of the wearer's bare foot sole. As one example, simplyenveloping the outer surface of existing cushioning devices like gasbladders or foamed plastic Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or Polyurethane(PU) with a new outer layer of material that is unattached (or at leastpartially unattached) thereby can creates if unglued an internal sipebetween the inner surface of the new compartment and the outer surfaceof the existing bladder/midsole component, allowing the two surfaces tomove relative to each other rather than being fixed to each other.

Especially in the common form of a slit structure seen in many exampleembodiments, the flexibility of the internal sipe is provided by thisrelative motion between opposing surfaces that in many the exampleembodiments are fully in contact with each other, again in contrast tothe separating surfaces of external sipes; such surface contact is, ofcourse, exclusive of any internal sipe media, which can be used as anadditional enhancement, in contrast to the flexibility-obstructingdebris unavoidably picked up by, and often clogging, open externalsipes. As a result, the footwear sole in which at least one integralinternal sipe insert or component is incorporated becomes much moreflexible, much more like the wearer's bare foot sole itself, so thatfoot sole can interact with the ground naturally. The resulting footwearsole with internal sipes has improved, natural flexibility, improvedcushioning from shock and shear forces, and better, more naturallystable support.

A limited use of internal sipes has also been described by the applicantin prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS. 12A-12D,60A-60E, and 70-71 of both the applicant's '087 and '034 publishedapplications and '869 patent herein incorporated by reference above,which are generally unglued portions coinciding with lamination layerboundaries, such as between bottomsole and midsole layers. This olderapproach requires completely new and somewhat difficult approaches inthe assembly of the footwear sole during manufacture, as well assignificantly greater potential for problems of layer separation(especially bottom sole) since the inherent reduction in gluing surfacesmakes the remaining gluing surfaces critical and under increased load;significantly increased positional accuracy in the application of glueis required. Also, the use of lubricating media (and the potentialcontrol thereof, including by microprocessor) is also more difficult,since the sipe is formed by existing parts and is not discretelyenclosed with the new outer layer to contain the media, as it is in anew invention described in this application.

In contrast, a new invention of this application is a discrete device inthe form of an integral component that can easily be inserted as asingle simple step into the footwear sole during the manufacturingprocess or, alternatively, inserted in one single simple step by awearer (into the upper portion of a midsole insert, for example, muchlike inserting an insole into an shoe), for whom the new extra layerprovides buffering protection for the wearer from direct, potentiallyabrasive contact with a cushioning component (forming a portion of theinner, foot sole-contacting surface of the shoe sole, for example).

In addition, such a new invention allows easier and more effectivecontainment of a lubricating media (including media with specialcapabilities, like magnetorheological fluid) within the integralinternal sipe, so that the relative motion between inner surfaces of thesipe can be controlled by that media (and, alternatively, by directcomputer control); it avoids the need for the use of closed-cell midsolematerials or a special impermeable layer applied to the footwear solematerial to prevent the sipe media from leaking away.

The new invention also makes manufacturing easier and inherently moreaccurate, since the introduction of the fluid media can be bettercontrol during a separate process when the separate unitary insert orcomponent 510/511/513 is manufactured by itself, rather than attemptingto integrate that process into the already complex sole or orthoticmolding and assembly process.

Accordingly, it is a general object of one or more embodiments of theinvention to elaborate upon the application of the use of a device inthe form of an insertable integral component with one or more internalsipes to improve the flexibility, cushioning, and stability of footwearand other products.

It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the inventionto provide footwear having an integral insert or component with at leastone internal (or mostly internal) sipes, including slits or channels orgrooves and any other shape, including geometrically regular ornon-regular, such as anthropomorphic or animal shapes, to improveflexibility, cushioning and stability.

It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the inventionto include an insertable integral device with one or more internal sipesthat include a media such as a lubricant or glue of any usefulcharacteristic such as viscosity or any material, including amagnetorheological fluid.

It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention tocreate a shoe sole with flexibility, support and cushioning that isprovided by siped chambers or compartments or bladders in the footwearsole or upper or orthotics. The compartments or chambers or bladders aresurrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostlyinternal) sipe, including in the form of a slit, for use in any footwearsoles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, and for other flexibility,cushioning, and stability uses in athletic equipment like helmets andapparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medicalprotective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protectiveflooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, andmany other uses.

It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention tocreate footwear, orthotic or other products with at least one outerchamber; at least one inner chamber inside the outer chamber; the outerchamber and the inner chamber being separated at least in part by aninternal sipe, including in the form of a slit; at least a portion of aninner surface of the outer chamber forming at least a portion of aninner surface of the internal sipe; and the internal sipe providingincreased flexibility, cushioning, and stability for the footwear,orthotic or other product.

A further object of one or more embodiments of the invention is tocombine the integral insert or component with at least one internal sipewith the applicant's prior footwear inventions described and hereinincorporated by reference in this application, including removablemidsole structures and orthotics and chambers with controlled variablepressure, including control by computer.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from thesummary and detailed description of the invention, which follow, takenwith the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the present invention attempts, as closely as possible, toreplicate and interface with the naturally effective structures of thebare foot that provide flexibility, cushioning, and stable support. Morespecifically, the invention relates to a device for a footwear sole orupper or both, or an orthotic or orthotic upper or both, or other,non-footwear devices, including a unitary internal sipe insert orcomponent, said internal sipe providing increased flexibility for saiddevice. More specifically, the invention relates to an integral insertor component with at least one slit with a media such as a lubricant orglue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material,including a magnetorheological fluid.

Even more specifically, the invention relates to footwear or orthoticsor other products with at least one compartment or chamber or bladdersurrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostlyinternal) sipe, including in the form of a slit, for use in any footwearsoles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, and for other flexibility,cushioning, and stability uses. Even more specifically, the inventionrelates to footwear, orthotic or other products with at least one outerchamber; at least one inner chamber inside the outer chamber; the outerchamber and the inner chamber being separated at least in part by aninternal sipe, including in the form of a slit; at least a portion of aninner surface of the outer chamber forming at least a portion of asurface of the internal sipe; and the internal sipe providing increasedflexibility, cushioning, and stability for the footwear, orthotic orother product.

These and other features of the invention will become apparent from thedetailed description of the invention that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-44 of this application are FIGS. 83-127 of both the applicant'sU.S. application Ser. No. 11/282,665 filed Nov. 21, 2005 and publishedon Nov. 9, 2006 as Pub. No. US 2006/0248749 A1 and PCT ApplicationPCT/US2005/042341 filed 21 Nov. 2005 and published on 1 Jun. 2006 asInt. Pub. No. WO 2006/058013 A2, both of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIGS. 1A-4A show a frontal or sagittal plane cross section view of anexample of a device 510 such as a flexible insert with a sipedcompartment or chamber or bladder.

FIGS. 1B-6B show a top view in a horizontal plane of a device 510example of FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A.

FIG. 1C is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship of aninsert device 510, which has a siped compartment or chamber or bladder,with a midsole, bottom sole, and upper of a shoe or other footwear.

FIGS. 5A-6A show a frontal or sagittal plane cross section view of anexample of a device 510 such as a flexible insert with two sipedcompartments or chambers or bladders or combination.

FIG. 7 shows, in a frontal plane cross section in the heel area, a shoeand shoe sole including a single siped compartment 510.

FIG. 8 shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 7,including also an attachment 503 between 500 and 501.

FIG. 9 shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 7,including also an inner compartment/chamber 501 with a number of innercompartment structural elements 502.

FIG. 10 shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 7,including also more than one siped compartment 510.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG.7, including also more than one inner compartments 501 in an outercompartment 500.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show similar embodiments and views to that shown in FIG.7, but wherein the outer compartment/chamber/bladder 500 formssubstantially all of the midsole portion of the footwear sole (exclusiveof the outer sole).

FIG. 15 shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 7, butalso including the features of prior FIG. 11N of the '087 and '034published applications (as well as the Ser. No. 11/282,665 applicationpublished Nov. 9, 2006 as Pub. No. 2006/0248749 A1 incorporated byreference) and '869 patent incorporated by reference herein, with thesiped compartment/chamber/bladder 510 applied to it.

FIG. 16 shows a somewhat similar embodiment and view to that shown inFIG. 10, but including an electromagnetic shock absorption system ineach chamber, which are without sipes.

FIG. 17A shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 15,but including an electromagnetic shock absorption system. FIG. 17B is aclose-up view of an embodiment like FIG. 7, but showingmagnetorheological fluid 508 located within an internal sipe 505.

FIG. 18A shows, in a frontal or sagittal plane cross section, a flexibleinsert or component 511 including a single compartment/chamber 161/188or bladder with an associated internal sipe 505 component. FIG. 18Bshows a top horizontal plane view of flexible insert or component 511 ofFIG. 18A. FIG. 18C is an exploded perspective view showing therelationship of an insert device 511, which has a compartment or chamberor bladder and an internal sipe, with a midsole, bottom sole, and upperof a shoe or other footwear.

FIG. 19A shows, in frontal or sagittal plane cross section, a flexibleinsert or component 513 forming a unitary internal sipe. FIG. 19B is atop horizontal plane view of flexible insert or component 513 of FIG.19A. FIG. 19C is an exploded perspective view showing the relationshipof an insert device 513, which can be a thin compartment or chamber orbladder forming an internal sipe such as a slit, with a midsole, bottomsole, and upper of a shoe or other footwear.

FIG. 20A shows, in frontal or sagittal plane cross section, the FIG. 19Aembodiment of a unitary internal sipe 513 position as a separatecomponent in a footwear sole. FIG. 20B is like FIG. 19B and thus shows atop horizontal plane view of flexible insert or component 513 of FIG.20A. FIG. 20C shows a frontal plane cross section of an insert device513 as a thin compartment or chamber or bladder forming an internal sipesuch as a slit, the device being located in a footwear sole.

FIG. 21A shows, in frontal or sagittal plane cross section, the unitaryinternal sipe 513 in an embodiment including three separate internalflexibility sipes 505. FIG. 21B is like FIG. 19B and thus shows a tophorizontal plane view of flexible insert or component 513 of FIG. 21A.

FIG. 22 shows, in frontal plane cross section in the heel area, aflexible insert or component 510 used in the footwear upper 21.

FIG. 23 shows, in frontal plane cross section in the heel area, aflexible insert or component 510 used both in the footwear upper 21 andin the sole 22 or 28.

FIGS. 24A and 24B show, in frontal plane cross section, two exampleembodiments of any helmet 550 for any use with a cushioning helmet liner551 including an inner flexible insert or component 510.

FIGS. 24C and 24D show, in frontal plane cross section, two exampleembodiments of any helmet 550 for any use including one or more internalsipes 505

FIGS. 25A and 25B, as well as FIGS. 26A and 26B, show a heel section ofa footwear sole or orthotic with an example of a flexible insert orcomponent 510 using specific examples of the structural elements 502.

FIG. 26C shows an example in a horizontal plane cross-section of afootwear sole 22 of a device or flexible insert or component 510 inwhich the inner compartment 501 includes a flexible shank 514 located inthe media 504 in the general area of the instep of the shoe sole betweenthe heel area and the forefoot area. FIG. 26D shows two differentexamples of versions of the flexible shank 514 in frontal plane crosssection.

FIGS. 27A-27B show in cross-section an example of any ball 530 with oneor more internal sipes 505 of any shape located between the outersurface of the ball and an inner surface.

FIG. 28A shows in cross-section an example of a tire 535, such as for awheel of a transportation vehicle, with a device 510. FIG. 28B shows ina side view cross-section an example of shape of structural elements 502of the inner compartment 501.

FIG. 29A shows, in sagittal plane cross sections, two examples of priorart human breast implants, the first inserted over pectoral muscle andthe second inserted under pectoral muscle. FIG. 29B shows an example ofa human breast implant 540 with a siped compartment or chamber 510.

FIGS. 30A-30J show cross sectional examples of any structural or supportelement 550 in any device, including mechanical or architectural,including a beam or strut, or a tool or racquet handle or grip, shaft orbody, or head, that incorporates a siped chamber 510.

FIG. 31A shows examples of prior art golf clubs. FIG. 31B shows anexample of a golf (or other) club head or racket (or tool head or bodyor handle/grip) 550 with one or more internal sipes 505.

FIG. 32A shows in perspective view an example of a prior art artificialspinal or intervertebral disk. FIG. 32B shows in frontal plane crosssection an example of an artificial spinal or intervertebral disk 560,including any artificial joint disk or any other surgical or prostheticdevice with one or more internal sipes 505 of any form, including asiped compartment 510.

FIGS. 33A-33E and 35 show frontal plane cross section examples of shoesoles 22 or 28 or midsole insert or orthotics 145 with several planarsides to approximate curvature from the applicant's published '034application and WIPO publication No. WO 02,09547, which can be combinedwith the flexible insert or components 510, 511, or 513;

FIG. 34 shows a similar top view example.

FIG. 36 shows prior art from the automotive industry relating tomagnetoelectric cushioning systems shown in FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIGS. 37-42 show perspective views of prior art examples gas bladders ofNike Air™ (119-123), which are FIGS. 12-16 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,534and Zoom Air™ (124-126), which are FIGS. 1-2 of published U.S. PatentApplication 2005/0039346 A1.

FIG. 43 is a cross-sectional view along line 43-43 of FIG. 42 and is aprior art example of a gas bladder as shown in FIG. 3 of published U.S.Patent Application 2005/0039346A1.

FIG. 44 shows perspective views of prior art Adidas 1™ shoe soleelectronic/electromechanical cushioning system.

FIG. 45 shows a shoe sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with an inner compartment 501 having multiplemidsole layers.

FIG. 46 shows a show sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with an inner compartment 501 having a multitudeof ball bearing-like structures.

FIG. 47 shows a shoe sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with fiber reinforcing an inner or outercompartment.

FIG. 48A shows a shoe sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with fiber sandwiched between two separate layersof midsole; FIG. 48B shows a similar embodiment example frontal planecross-section with fiber embedded in midsole layers. FIGS. 48C-48E showmaterial using vertical sipe embodiment examples from FIGS. 73A-73C ofthe '665 application like FIGS. 25 and 26 of this application.

FIGS. 49-50, 51A-51B, and 52A-52C show examples of the 510 inventionusing typical commercial air bladder embodiments as compartments 501modified with outer compartments 500.

FIG. 53 shows an example wheel for an automobile with the 510/511/513inventions.

FIG. 54 show prior art tire example.

FIG. 55 shows a shoe sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with a mixture plastic and rubber compounds.

FIG. 56 shows a shoe sole or orthotic frontal plane cross-section of asiped compartment 510 with a mixture of liquid or gel cells.

FIG. 57 shows a tire with an internal sipe 505 with a media 506 and/orfiber 516 between and inner and outer tires.

FIG. 58 shows a tire with magnetorheological fluid 508 and piezoelectric519 components

FIG. 59 shows a glove with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 60A-60C shows apparel with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIG. 61A shows a computer laptop with the 510/511/513 inventions andFIG. 61B shows a semiconductor microchip with the 510/511/513inventions.

FIG. 62 shows a chair with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 63-65 shows a mattress, pillow, and wedge cushion with the510/511/513 inventions.

FIG. 66 shows a cable with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIG. 67 is a chart showing approximate comparison of hardness scales.

FIG. 68 shows a building with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 69-70 shows torso and knee braces.

FIGS. 71-72 shows automobile examples of the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 73A-73B shows a tennis racquet with the 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 74-79 show additional examples of the 510/511/513 inventionsapplied to electronic game controllers, manual tools, electric tools,bicycle, and cell phone.

FIGS. 80A-80C show a large urban telephone book lying flat, solid woodenblock, and an upright very thick book to illustrate basic concepts ofsipe flexibility and stability.

FIGS. 81A-81D show the much larger and more conventional attachment areabetween midsole and bottomsole for a shoe sole or orthotic with the510/511/513 invention of FIGS. 81C-81D compared to prior shoe sole sipeinventions of FIGS. 81A-81B.

FIGS. 82A-82C, 83A-83C, 84A-84F, 85A-85D, 86A-86E and 87 illustratefurther embodiments of the use of siped compartments or chambers (510)and/or flexible inserts and internal sipe components (511 and 513) withdifferent shoe sole configurations. FIGS. 82A-82C, 83A-83C, 84A-84D,85A-85C, 86A-86C are frontal plane cross sections with the locations ofthe cross-sections of FIGS. 84A-84D shown in FIGS. 84E-84F, the locationof the cross-sections of FIGS. 85A-85C shown in FIG. 85D and thelocation of the cross-sections of FIGS. 86A-86C shown in FIGS. 86D-86E.FIG. 84E is a sagittal plane cross-section along line 84E-84E of FIG.84F. FIGS. 84F, 85D and 86D are a horizontal plane cross-sections. FIG.86E is a sagittal plane cross-section along line 86E-86E of FIG. 86D.

FIG. 88 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a removable midsoleinsert or insertable midsole orthotic with pressure controlledencapsulated midsole sections and a control system such as amicroprocessor.

FIGS. 89A-89B are frontal plane cross-sectional views showing twovariations of inner shoes in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 89C is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an interface forincreasing the stability of the insertable midsole of the presentinvention.

It is understood that the reference numbers identified in thisapplication and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/282,665,incorporated by reference herein, are used consistently throughout theapplication such that like reference numbers are used to describe thesame or like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-79 show the applicant's inventions incorporating forms ofinsertable devices with one or more internal (or mostly internal) sipes,including slits (or channels or grooves and other shape, includinggeometrically regular or non-regular shapes, such as anthropomorphicshapes), into a large variety of products, including footwear andorthotics, athletic, occupational and medical equipment and apparel,padding for equipment and furniture, balls, tires and any otherstructural or support elements in a mechanical, architectural or anyother device.

REFERENCE NUMBER ELEMENT DESCRIPTION

-   -   2 insole    -   3 attachment point of upper midsole and shoe upper    -   4 attachment point of bottom sole and shoe upper    -   5 attachment point of bottom sole and upper midsole    -   6 attachment point of bottom sole and lower midsole    -   8 lower surface interface with the upper surface of the bottom        sole    -   9 interface line between encapsulated section and midsole        sections    -   11 lateral stability sipe    -   12 medial stability sipe    -   13 interface between insole and shoe upper    -   14 medial origin of the lateral stability sipe    -   16 hatched area of decreased area of footprint due to pronation    -   17 footprint outline when tilted    -   18 inner footprint outline of low arched foot    -   19 hatched area of increased area of footprint due to pronation    -   20 athletic shoe    -   21 shoe upper    -   21 a inner secondary shoe upper    -   22 conventional shoe sole    -   23 bottom outside edge of the shoe sole    -   23 a lever arm    -   26 stabilizing quadrants    -   27 human foot    -   28 rounded shoe sole    -   28 a rounded stability sides    -   28 b load bearing shoe sole    -   29 outer surface of the foot    -   30 upper surface of the shoe sole    -   30 a side or inner edge of the shoe sole stability side    -   30 b upper shoe sole surface which contacts the wearer's foot    -   31 lower surface of the shoe sole    -   31 a outer edge of rounded stability sides    -   31 b lower surface of shoe sole parallel to 30 b    -   32 outside and top edge of the stability side    -   33 inner edge of the naturally rounded stability side    -   34 perpendicular sides of the load-bearing shoe sole    -   35 peripheral extent of the upper surface of sole    -   36 shoe sole outline    -   37 foot outline    -   37 a maximum supination position    -   37 b maximum pronation position    -   3.8 heel lift    -   39 combined midsole and bottom sole    -   40 forefoot lift    -   43 ground    -   51 Theoretically Ideal Stability Plane    -   51′ half of the Theoretically Ideal Stability Plane    -   53 a top of rounded stability side    -   60 tread portion    -   61 cleated portion    -   62 alternative tread construction    -   63 surface which the cleat bases are affixed    -   70 curve of range of side to side motion    -   72 center of gravity    -   80 conventional wide heel flare curve    -   82 narrow rectangle the width of heel curve    -   85 rounded line of areas of shoe sole that are in contact with        the ground    -   86 rounded line    -   87 rounded line    -   88 rounded line    -   89 rounded line    -   92 head of first metatarsal    -   93 head of fifth distal phalange    -   94 head of fifth metatarsal    -   95 base and lateral tuberosity of the calcaneus    -   96 heads of the metatarsals    -   96 a stability correction supporting fifth metatarsal and distal        phalange heads    -   96 b stability correction supporting first metatarsal and distal        phalange heads    -   97 base of the fifth metatarsal    -   98 head of the first distal phalange    -   98 a stability correction supporting first distal phalange    -   98 a′ stability correction supporting fifth distal phalange    -   100 straight line replacing indentation at the base of the fifth        metatarsal    -   104 pressure sensing device    -   108 lateral calcaneal tuberosity    -   109 main base of the calcaneus    -   111 flexibility axis    -   112 flexibility axis    -   113 flexibility axis    -   115 center of rotation of radius r+r′    -   119 center of shoe sole support section    -   120 pressure sensing circuitry    -   121 main longitudinal arch (long arch)    -   122 flexibility axis    -   123 flexible connecting top layer of sipes    -   124 flexibility axis    -   125 base of the calcaneus (heel)    -   126 metatarsal heads (forefoot)    -   129 honeycombed portion    -   145 removable midsole insert/insertable midsole, orthotic    -   147 upper midsole (upper areas of shoe midsole)    -   148 midsole    -   149 bottom or outer sole    -   149 a secondary bottom sole    -   150 compression force    -   151 channels with parallel side walls    -   155 a tension force along the top surface of the shoe sole    -   155 b mirror image of tension force 155 a    -   158 subcalcaneal fat pad    -   159 calcaneus    -   160 bottom sole of the foot    -   161 cushioning compartment    -   162 natural crease or upward taper    -   163 crease or taper in the human foot    -   164 chambers of matrix of elastic fibrous connective tissue    -   165 lower surface of the upper midsole    -   166 upper surface of the bottom sole    -   167 outer surface of the support structures of the foot    -   168 upper surface of the foot's bottom sole    -   169 shank    -   170 flexible material filling channels (sipes)    -   176 protrusions    -   177 recesses    -   180 mini-chambers    -   181 internal deformation slits (sipes) in the sagittal plane    -   187 internal deformation slits (sipes) in the horizontal plane    -   184 encapsulating outer midsole section    -   185 midsole sides    -   187 upper midsole section    -   188 bladder or encapsulated midsole section    -   189 central wall    -   191 fibrous capsule shell    -   197 subdivided cushioning compartments    -   201 horizontal line through lower most point of upper surface of        the shoe sole    -   206 fluid duct    -   210 fluid valve    -   300 encapsulated midsole section control system    -   301 mechanical fasteners    -   307 adhesive    -   303 snap fit

New reference numerals used in the FIGS. 1-79 are further defined asfollows:

Ref. No 500:

An outer compartment, such as an outer compartment 161 or chamber 188 orbladder, at least partially or mostly or entirely enclosing a spacewithin the outer compartment/chamber/bladder 500, which can be locatedanywhere in a footwear sole or upper or both or other article describedin this application. Construction and materials can be, as oneembodiment example, simpler in shape but otherwise similar to those usedin any commercial samples of Nike Air™.

Ref. No 501:

An inner compartment, such as an inner compartment 161 or chamber 188 orbladder, is located inside the enclosed space of the outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500. Construction and materials of the innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 can be, as one embodiment example, likethose used in any commercial samples of gas bladders in Nike Air™.

Ref. No. 502:

Structural element that is optional anywhere within either outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500 or inner compartment/chamber/bladder501, of which a 501 embodiment is shown; any flexible, resilientmaterial can be used, including structures molded into the shape of (andusing the material of) the compartment/chamber/bladder 500 or 501, as isvery common in the art, such as many commercial samples of gas bladdersused in Nike Air™, as well as foamed plastic or plastic composite orother materials, like Nike Shox™ or Impax™ or Reebok DMX™ or New BalanceN-ergy™. In addition, other materials can be used directly within a501/500 compartment or can connected to or through a 501/500compartment, as in the cushioning components of the shoe sole heel ofcommercial samples of Adidas 1™, including electromechanical,electronic, and other components. Some devices may benefit from the useof rigid or semi-rigid materials for part or all of a media within acompartment.

Ref. No. 503:

Attachment of two compartment/chambers/bladders 500/501, includingparticularly attachment of outer 500 to inner 501; any practical numberof attachments of any form using any materials can be used, includingglue.

Ref. No. 504:

Media contained within all or part of compartment/chamber/bladder 500 or501, particularly 501, can be any useful material, such as gas(including, as an example, gas used in Nike Air™ or ambient air, liquidor fluid, gel, or foam (such as a plastic like PU or EVA or equivalentor rubber (natural or synthetic) or combination of two or more;encapsulation of foam is optional); material particles or coatings, suchas dry coatings like polytetrafluoroethylene can also be used. Anoptional element in an outer compartment/chamber 500 (or an innercompartment/chamber 501 that itself contains an innercompartment/chamber, as in FIG. 87).

Ref. No. 505:

Internal sipe or slit or channel or groove for flexibility, such asbetween inner and outer compartment/chamber 500/501 (or bladder)surfaces, as one embodiment example; such surfaces can be substantiallyparallel and directly contact in one useful embodiment example, but arenot attached so that at least parts of the two surfaces can moverelative to each other, such as to facilitate a sliding motion betweensurfaces; the surfaces can be in other useful forms that allow portionsof the surfaces to be proximate to each other but not contacting in anunloaded condition or in a partially loaded condition or in a maximallyloaded condition.

Ref. No. 506:

Media of internal sipe 505; media 506 can be any useful material likethose used in media 504; media 506 can be located in part or all of 505to decrease (or increase) sliding resistance between 500/501 or 505surfaces, for example, to lubricate the surfaces with any suitablematerial; silicone or polytetrafluoroethylene can be used, for example;an optional element.

Ref. No. 507:

Metal particles.

Ref. No. 508:

Shock absorbing fluid containing 507; a magnetorheological fluid.

Ref. No. 509:

Electromagnetic field-creating circuit.

Ref. No. 510:

A flexible insert or component including siped compartments 161 orchambers 188 or bladders used for example as outer and innercompartments/chambers/bladders 500/501 for footwear soles or orthoticsor uppers or other uses; a useful embodiment being two or morecompartment or chambers (or bladders) 161/188 (or mix) that areseparated at least in part by an internal sipe 505, including theexample of at least one 501 (either 161/188 or bladder) inside at leastone 500 (either 161/188 or bladder) and being separated by an internalsipe 505.

Ref. No. 511:

A flexible insert or component including a single compartment 161 orchamber 188 or bladder with an associated internal sipe 505 component.

Ref. No. 512:

A wall of flexible insert or component 511 or 513 that is not formed bya compartment 161 or chamber 188 or bladder and that is separated fromanother wall by an internal sipe 505.

Ref. No. 513:

Any flexible insert or component including an internal sipe 505.

Ref. No. 514:

A flexible shank located generally in an instep area of a shoe sole andincorporated in a 510/511/513 device described herein previously.

Ref. No. 516:

Ball bearings

Ref. No. 517:

Liquid or gel cells

Ref. No. 518:

Fibers

Ref. No. 519:

Piezoelectric components

Ref. No. 521:

Plastic or plastic-based compound

Ref. No. 522:

Rubber or rubber-based compound

Ref. No. 530:

Any ball with a device 510/511/513 described herein previously.

Ref. No. 535:

A tire (for a wheel) or a wheel 533 with a device 510/511/513 describedherein previously and treads 536, as well as steel belts 537.

Ref. No. 540:

A human breast implant with a device 510/511/513 described hereinpreviously.

Ref. No. 545:

Transportation vehicle including its interior 546 with a device510/511/513.

Ref. No. 550:

Any structural or support element with a device 510/511/513 describedherein previously, including a helmet or other apparel or equipment forhumans or animals or other biologically based product; or a tool (poweror manual), club, or racquet handle, grip, shaft, body, or head; a beamor strut or any other element in any device, including mechanical orarchitectural.

Ref. No. 560:

An artificial spinal or intervertebral disk with a device 510/511/513described herein previously.

Ref. No. 570:

Apparel or clothing, including gloves 571, with a device 510/511/513.

Ref. No. 580:

Computer

Ref. No. 590:

Furniture

Ref. No. 610:

Cable of wire or glass fiber.

Ref. No. 620:

Building, including house.

Ref. No. 630:

Human body braces.

FIGS. 1-15, 17, and 22-79 show, as numeral 510, examples of a device orflexible insert including siped compartments 161 or chambers 188 orbladders (another term used in the art) for use in any footwear soles,including conventional soles 22 or the applicant's prior inventions,including footwear/shoe soles 28 and midsole inserts 145 as described inapplicant's published '087 application and Ser. No. 11/282,665 U.S.application published Nov. 9, 2006, as Pub. No. US 2006/0248749 A1incorporated by reference, or for orthotics 145 as described in theapplicant's published '034 U.S. application, '869 patent, and WO02/09547 WIPO publication, as well as to be published by WIPO PCTApplication Number PCT/US2005/042341, all incorporated by referenceherein, including for uppers for footwear or orthotics (or includinguppers), or for other flexibility uses in athletic equipment likehelmets and apparel including protective padding and guards, as well asmedical protective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such asprotective flooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires forwheels, and other uses.

The device or flexible insert with siped compartments or chambers 510include embodiments like two or more of either compartments 161 orchambers 188 or bladders (or a any mix including two or more of acompartment, a chamber, and a bladder) that are separated at least inpart or in several parts or mostly or fully by an internal sipe 505. Theflexible insert 510 can be inserted during assembly of an article by amaker or manufacturer or is insertable by a user or wearer (into anarticle like a shoe, for example, as part of a removable midsole insert145 described above), or integrated into the construction of a device asone or more components.

Siped compartments or chambers 510 include example embodiments such asFIGS. 1-15, 17, and 22-79 which generally show at least one innercompartment 161 or chamber 188 inside at least one other outercompartment 161 or chamber 161; and the two compartments/chambers161/188 being separated by an internal sipe 505.

One practical example embodiment of the invention is any priorcommercial embodiment of Nike Air™ gas bladder or compartment (liketypical examples in FIGS. 12-16 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,534, which ishereby incorporated by reference) that is installed unattached, as is,located within the space enclosed partially or fully by a new, slightlylarger outer compartment of one additional layer of the same or similarmaterial, with the same or a simpler or the simplest geometric shape;that is, not necessarily following indentations or reverse curves, butrather incorporating straighter or the straightest lines, as seen incross-section: for example, following the outermost side curvature seenin FIGS. 12-16, but with upper and lower surfaces that are substantiallyflat and parallel (or curved and parallel), to facilitate ease ofmovement between the two surfaces of the sipe 505 formed, increasing theresulting flexibility.

The new additional, outer compartment thus thereby has created by itspresence an internal sipe 505 between the two unconnected compartments.The new internal sipe 505 provides much greater flexibility to anyfootwear sole 22 or 28, since it allows an inner, otherwise relativelyrigid Nike Air™ compartment structure to become an inner compartment 501(instead of typically being fixed into the other materials such as EVAof the footwear sole) to move freely inside the new outer compartment500, which becomes a new compartment that is fixed to the footwear sole,rather that the conventional Nike Air™ bladder. The flexibilityimprovement allows the shoe sole to deform under a body weight load likea wearer's bare foot sole, so that stability is improved also,especially lateral stability.

The result is that the conventional, inner Nike Air™ compartment—nowcontained by a new outer compartment—can move easily within the overallfootwear sole, allowing the sole to bend or flex more easily in parallelwith the wearer's bare foot sole to deform to flatten under a bodyweight load, including during locomotion or standing, so that footwearsole stability is improved also, especially lateral stability. Theextent to which the inner Nike Air™ compartment is “free-floating”within the new outer compartment can be controlled or tuned, forexample, by one or more attachments (permanent or adjustable) to theouter compartment or by the media in the internal sipe.

The internal sipe 505 includes at least two surfaces that can moverelative to each other to provide a flexibility increase for a footwearsole so that the shape of the footwear sole can deform under a bodyweight load to better parallel to the shape of the barefoot sole of awearer under a same body weight load. The relative motion between thetwo internal sipe 505 surfaces increases the capability of the footwearsole to bend during locomotion under a wearer's body weight load tobetter parallel the shape of said wearer's bare foot sole.

In an analogous way, especially to the thicker heel portion of a typicalshoe sole, a thick urban area telephone book has in effect hundreds ofmostly “internal sipes”, each page being in effect separated by ahorizontal internal slit from each adjacent page, each of which therebyis able to move freely relative to each other, resulting in a flexibletelephone book that bends quite easily, while at the same timerelatively stable when a vertical force like body weight is applied.

In contrast, if the same wood fiber material with the same dimensions asa thick telephone book were formed instead into a single piece with nopages, like a solid particle board, it would be quite rigid.

If, instead, the sipes were rotated 90 degrees into vertical slits andopen to the bottom, so that the spine of the telephone book is on top,those external sipes would also provide a substantial amount offlexibility, but at the cost of excessive instability when a verticalforce like body weight is applied.

Also, the sliding motion between internal support surfaces within theshoe sole 28 allowed by internal sipe 505 in response to torsional orshear forces between a wearer's foot and the ground assists incontrolling and absorbing the impact of those forces, whether sudden andexcessive or chronically repetitive, thereby helping to protect thewearer's joints from acute or chronic injury, especially to the ankles,knees, hips, lower back, and spine.

A benefit of the siped compartments/chambers 510 is that, as a singleunitary component, it can be used in any conventional manner inconstructing the footwear sole 28, generally like that used with aconventional single layer compartment such as used in Nike Air™; i.e.the outer surface of 510 can, as a useful embodiment, adhere to theadjacent materials like plastic such as PU (polyurethane) or EVA (ethylvinyl acetate) or other plastic or rubber of the footwear sole thatcontact the 510 component, just as would be the case with the outersurface of existing single compartment 161 or chamber 188 of commercialexamples of Nike Air™. However, the internal sipe 505 formed by the useof an inner compartment/chamber 501 in the siped compartment/chamber 510provides flexibility in a footwear sole 28 that is absent in therelatively rigid footwear sole 28 formed with a conventional, singlelayer compartment 161 or chamber 188 of the many Nike Air™ commercialexamples.

The sipe surfaces can in one useful example embodiment be formed by theinner surface (or part or parts of it) of the outer compartment 500 andthe outer surface (or part or parts of it) of the inner compartment 501.Such sipe surfaces can be substantially parallel and directly contacteach other in one useful embodiment example, but the two surfaces aregenerally not attached to each other, so that the sipe surfaces can moverelative to each other to facilitate a sliding motion between the twosurfaces.

The sipe surfaces can be in other useful forms that allow portions ofthe surfaces to be proximate to each other in an unloaded condition,rather than contacting; such surfaces can make partial or full directcontact under a wearer's body weight load (which can vary from afraction of a “g” to multiple “g” forces during locomotion) or remainsomewhat separated; the amount of sipe surface area making directcontact can also vary with a wearer's body weight load. The sipessurfaces also may not be parallel or only partially parallel, such asthe areas of direct surface contact or proximal surface contact.

To preclude the surfaces of the internal sipe 505 from directlycontacting each other (whether loaded or unloaded), the sipe surfacescan include an internal sipe media 506 located between the surfaces toreduce friction by lubrication and increase relative motion andtherefore flexibility. Useful example embodiments of the internal sipemedia 506 include any useful material known in the art (or equivalent),such as a liquid like silicone as one example, a dry material likepolytetrafluoroethylene as another example, or a gas like that used inNike Air™ as a further example. The media 506 can be located in all ofthe sipe 505 or only part or parts, as shown in FIGS. 1-6.

The media 506 can be used to decrease (or increase) sliding resistancebetween the inner surfaces of the sipe; for example, to lubricate withany suitable material known in the art. The internal sipe media 506 isan optional feature.

The siped compartments/chambers 510 can be located anywhere in thefootwear sole or orthotic or upper and can be used in otherapplications, including non-footwear applications where flexibilityincreases are useful). The siped compartments/chambers 510 can be made,for example, with any methods and materials common in the footwear artsor similar arts or equivalents, like those in various Nike Air™; see forexample U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,183,156 and 4,219,945 to Rudy (which showfluid-filled bladder manufacturing through a flat sheet bondingtechnique), U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,459 to Potter et al. (which showsfluid-filled bladders manufactured through a blow-molding process), aswell as U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,951 and FIGS. 12-16 of U.S. Pat. No.6,846,534, all of which patents are herein incorporated by reference) orsimilar commercial examples like Reebok DMX™ compartments in itsoriginal form, as seen for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,573 (hereinincorporated by reference), column 5, line 41 to column 6, line 9), orNew Balance N-ergy™ (see for example FIG. 1 of WIPO Pub. No. WO 00/70981A1, but note that, as a example, at least the initial productionversions of the N-erny compartment can have less rigidity to allowbetter flexibility) or Asics Gel™ (many versions) compartments or futureequivalents of any, or with less common materials, such as fibersdescribed above incorporated into or on the surface of the material ofthe siped compartment/chambers 510, including either elastic fibers orinelastic fibers or a mix. The siped compartment/chambers 510 can be ofany practical number in a footwear sole or any shape, of which usefulexample embodiments include regular geometric shapes or irregularshapes, including anthropomorphic or animal shapes; and the 510 numberor shape can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, including between right andleft footwear soles.

Either of the compartments 161 or chambers 188 of the sipedcompartment/chambers 510 (or 511 or 513) can include one or morestructural elements 502 like those common in the footwear art such as inNike Air™ as noted in the above cited Rudy and Nike patents, alsoincluding Tuned Air™ (See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,451 to Skajaet al, which is herein incorporated by reference and which showsmanufacturing of fluid-filled bladders through a vacuum-forming process)or Zoom Air™ (See for example FIGS. 1-3 of U.S. App. No. 2005/0039346A1, which is herein incorporated by reference); a number of exampleembodiments of inner compartments 501 with structural elements 502 areshown in the FIGS. 1A, 9, 13, and 14. The structural elements 502 can bemade of any useful material known in the art and constructed in anymanner known in the art. FIGS. 25A and 26A show similar exampleembodiments wherein the structural elements 502 of the inner compartment501 are formed with a specific shape and foamed plastic material such asPU or EVA like that of Nike Shox™ (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,523,5,343,639, and 6,851,204, which are herein incorporated by reference)and Nike Impax™ (U.S. Pat. No. D500,585 S, which is herein incorporatedby reference), respectively, and can be affixed to the inner compartment501, which can be reinforced as necessary (instead of to rigid lowerand/or upper plates); the lower surface of the outer compartment 500 canbe attached to an outer sole, at least in part or an outer sole can beintegrated into the outer compartment 500 by thickening, for example, orincorporating rubber or rubber substitute material. Other commercialexisting examples that can be similarly modified as a device or flexibleinsert or component 510 (or 511 or 513) are Adidas a³™ Energy-ManagementTechnology and Adidas Ground Control System (GPS)™, and Reebok DMX™Shear Heel or other cushioning technologies.

Also, as shown in the example embodiments of FIGS. 26B and 25B, sincefoamed plastic material does not require containment (unlike a gas,liquid, or most gels), if the structural elements 502 are sufficientlyinterconnected, like for example Nike Impax™ in FIG. 26B, or if theseparate support columns 32 and midsole wedge 40 of Nike Shox™ aremodified to interconnect like the example shown in FIG. 25B, then thoseconnected structural elements 502 can form an integral inner compartment501, the outer surface of which can form an internal sipe 505 with thenew outer compartment 500. The interconnection can be complete, witheach structural elements 502 connected to at least the closest otherelements 502, as shown, or mostly complete, or partial. The Shox™support columns 32 can be any practical number, such as existingexamples of four or five or six (all commercially available) or more inthe heel and many more in the forefoot of the shoe sole 22 or 28, for atotal of eleven in existing commercial examples.

Any of the compartments or chambers 161/188 of the siped compartment 510can be permanently or temporarily attached one to another with at leastone attachment 503 of any useful shape or size or number or position;embodiment examples are shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, and 8.Anthropomorphic designs would suggest including positioning attachments503 on the internal sipe 505 closest to a wearer's foot sole as a usefulembodiment, so that the remaining sipes 505 would have a U shape incross-section, like the structure of human foot sole fat pads, which areanalogous to the cushioning midsole and midsole components of footwearsoles.

The attachments 503 can be simply passive (i.e. static) or activelycontrolled by electronic, mechanical, electromagnetic, or other usefulmeans. The attachments 503 can, for example, be designed to break awayas a failsafe feature to compensate for a predetermined extremetorsional load, for example, to reduce extreme stress on critical joints(in lieu of a wearer's cartilage, tendons, muscle, bone, or other bodyparts being damaged); the attachments 503 can then be reset or replaced(or, alternatively, return automatically upon relief of extreme stressto a normal position).

Example embodiments of the compartments and chambers 500/501 can includea media 504 such as a gas (like that used in Nike Air™ or ambientatmospheric air), a liquid or fluid, a gel, a foam (made of a plasticlike PU or EVA, both of which are common in the footwear art, orequivalent, or of a rubber (natural or synthetic) or blown rubber or arubber compound or equivalent or of another useful material or of acombination of two or more of the preceding foam plastic/rubber/etc.) ora useful combination of one or more gas, liquid, gel, foam, or otheruseful material.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 1 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 1 and/or associated textual specification can becombined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention or prior art examples described in FIGS. 2-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combined tomake new and useful improvements over the existing art with any one ormore other elements of the inventive or prior art examples shown inFIGS. 1-75 of both the applicant's prior footwear U.S. application Ser.No. 11/190,087, published as Pub. No. 2005/0268487 A1 on Dec. 8, 2005,and the applicant's prior orthotic U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,869, issued Mar.14, 2006, as well as continuation U.S. application Ser. No. 11/108,034,published as Pub. No. 2005/0217142 A1 on Oct. 6, 2005, each of which isincorporated by reference herein for completeness of disclosure, as wellas U.S. application Ser. No. 11/282,665 published as Publication No. US2006/0248749 A1, on Nov. 9, 2006, which is also hereby explicitlyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety for completeness ofdisclosure, as including additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C,any part or parts of which figure or figures can be combined with anypart or parts of any figure or figures of this application. In addition,any one or more features or components of FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2-79 can beusefully combined with one or more features or components of FIGS. 1-43of the applicant's earlier application Ser. No. 11/179,887 published asPublication No. US 2005/0241183 A1 on Nov. 3, 2005 describing footwear,which application is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIGS. 2A, 3A, and 4A show examples of embodiments of sipedcompartment/chamber/bladders 510 wherein either the innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 or the outer compartment 500 can haveone or more openings, for pressure equalization, assembly facilitation,or other purposes.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 2-4 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 2-4 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements ofeach other or the invention examples described in FIGS. 1 and 5-79and/or associated textual specification, in addition, can be combined tomake new and useful improvements over the existing art with any one ormore other elements of each other or the inventive or prior art examplesshown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087,'034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81Dand 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the'887 application.

FIG. 5A shows an example embodiment with an innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 ¹ having a smaller innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 ²; additional smaller inner compartments501 are possible in a similar progression, either enclosed within theprevious larger inner compartment 501 or within the same 501 or 500.

FIG. 6A shows an example embodiment with two innercompartment/chamber/bladders 501 ¹ and 501 ² which are layered withinouter compartment/chamber/bladder 500; additional compartment/chamber501 layers can be useful also.

FIGS. 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B and 6B show a top view of an example embodimentof the device 510 in a horizontal plane of FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and6A.

FIG. 1C is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship of aninsert device 510, which has a siped compartment or chamber or bladder,with a midsole 148, bottom sole 149, and upper 21 of a shoe or any otherfootwear. The midsole 148 and bottom sole 149 (and any additional layersnot shown) together form a shoe sole which can be any footwear sole,including any conventional sole 22 or any sole 28 according to one ofthe applicant's patents or applications. In the simple example shown,the device 510 can be inserted during a conventional manufacturing orassembly process or by a footwear wearer and can be located anywhere inthe footwear sole and/or upper.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIGS. 5-6 is implicit in the overall inventionof this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIG. 5-6 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of the invention examples described in FIGS. 7-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combined tomake new and useful improvements over the existing art with any one ormore other elements of each other or the inventive or prior art examplesshown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087,'034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81Dand 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the'887 application.

FIGS. 7-15 and 17 show, in frontal plane cross sections in the heelarea, example footwear embodiments with siped compartment/chambers 510located in footwear soles 28, which are shown with curved sides butwhich sides can also be planar in another embodiment; or which is shownwith flattened inner and outer surfaces underneath the wearer's footsole but which can be curved in a different embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows an example embodiment with single outer compartment 500 anda single inner compartment/chamber/bladder 501.

FIG. 8 shows a similar example embodiment with an attachment 503 between500 and 501.

FIG. 9 is a similar example embodiment to that shown in FIG. 7 andincludes also an inner compartment/chamber/bladder 501 with a number ofstructural elements 502.

FIG. 10 shows an example embodiment with more than one sipedcompartment/chambers 510, including outer compartment/chamber/bladders500, each with an inner compartment/chamber/bladder 501; not shown isanother example embodiment with more than one innercompartments/chamber/bladders 501 in each of more than one outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500, another among many useful variations.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 8-10 is implicit in the overall inventionof this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 8-10 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-7 and 11-79 and/or associated textual specificationand/or, in addition, can be combined to make new and useful improvementsover the existing art with any one or more other elements of each otheror the inventive or prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS.1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, aswell as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 11 shows a similar example embodiment to FIG. 7 and including anumber of inner compartment/chamber/bladders 501 within a single outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500, as does FIG. 12. Any practical numberof inner compartment/chamber/bladders 501 can be a useful embodiment ofthe general invention.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 7 and 11-12 is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 7 and 11-12 and/or associatedtextual specification can be combined with any other part of any one ormore other elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-6, 8-10, and 13-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show example embodiments wherein the outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500 forms substantially all of the footwearsole, exclusive of the outer sole 149 in the example shown (but theinsert 510 can form the outer surface of the footwear sole also). A heelcross-section is shown, but other sections of the sole, such as theforefoot or midfoot can employ this approach, either as separatecomponents or each can be used alone or in combination with others or assubstantially all of the sole 28. As shown, both FIGS. 13 and 14 exampleembodiments include multiple inner compartment/chamber/bladders 501 inlayers.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 13-14 is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIG. 13-14 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-12 and 15-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 15 shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 7, butalso including the features of prior FIG. 11N of the '087 publishedapplication (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,350 (hereinafter “the'350 patent”) and '034 published application (as well as the Ser. No.11/282,665 application published Nov. 9, 2006 as Pub. No. 2006/0248749A1 incorporated by reference) and '869 patent incorporated by referenceherein, with the siped compartment/chamber/bladder 510 applied to it.

FIG. 11N of the '350 patent or '869 patent shows shoe soles with one ormore encapsulated midsole sections or chambers such as bladders 188 forcontaining fluid such as a gas, liquid, gel or other suitable materials,and with a duct and a flow regulator such as a fluid valve. FIG. 11N ofthe '350 patent or '869 patent also includes the inventor's concavelyrounded sides as described elsewhere in the '350 patent or '869 patent,as well as a duct that communicates between encapsulated midsolesections or bladders 188 or within portions of the encapsulated midsolesection chambers or bladders 188. The bladders 188 can be any sizerelative to the midsole encapsulating them, including replacing theencapsulating midsole 148 substantially or entirely. Other suitableconventional embodiments can also be used in combination with theapplicant's concavely rounded portions.

FIG. 11N of the '350 patent or '869 patent shows an embodiment furthercomprising a removable midsole insert or insertable midsole orthotic145. This simplified embodiment employs only two bladders 188, each ofwhich extends from a concavely rounded side to the central portion. Onesignificant advantage of this embodiment, besides improved lateralstability, is that the potentially most expensive component of the shoesole, the removable midsole insert or insertable midsole orthotic 145,can be moved to other pairs of shoe upper/bottom soles, whether new orhaving a different style or function. Separate removable insoles canalso be useful in this case, especially in changing from athletic shoesto dress shoes, for function and/or style.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 15 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 15 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention examples described in FIGS. 1-14 and 16-79 and/or associatedtextual specification and/or, in addition, can be combined with any oneor more other elements of the inventive or prior art examples shown inprior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087, '034 and'665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887application.

FIG. 88 is a perspective view of the applicant's invention, includingthe control system 300, such as a microprocessor, and pressure-sensingcircuitry 120, which can be located anywhere in the removable midsoleinsert or insertable midsole orthotic 145 shown, in order for the entireunit to be removable as a single piece, with placement in the shankshown proximate the main longitudinal arch of the wearer's foot shown inthis figure, or alternatively, located elsewhere in the shoe,potentially with a wired or wireless connection and potentially separatemeans of attachment. The heel bladder 188 shown in FIG. 88 is similar tothat shown in FIG. 11O of the '350 patent or '869 patent with bothlateral and medial chambers. The embodiments shown in FIGS. 15 and 88can also include the capability to function sufficiently rapidly tosense an unstable shoe sole condition such as, for example, thatinitiating a slip, trip, or fall, and to react to the unstable shoecondition in order to promote a stable or more stable shoe solecondition. In this manner, the system can attempt to prevent a fall orat least attempt to reduce associated injuries, for example, by rapidlyreducing high point pressure in one zone of the shoe sole so thatpressures in all zones are quickly equalized to restore the stability ofthe shoe sole.

The removable midsole insert or insertable midsole orthotic 145 of thepresent invention, for example as shown in FIGS. 15 and 88, can also beused in combination with, or to implement, one or more features shown inany other figures of U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,869. For example, the removablemidsole insert or insertable midsole orthotic 145 of the presentinvention may replace all or any portion or portions of the variousmidsoles, insoles and bottom soles which are shown in the figures of thepresent application, and may be combined with the various other featuresdescribed in reference to any of these figures in any of these forms.

The removable midsole insert or insertable midsole orthotic 145 shown inFIGS. 15 and 88 can be integrated into, or may replace an orthotic orother podiatric, orthopedic, corrective, therapeutic, prosthetic,prescriptive, or similar device for use inside the wearer's shoe. Suchdevices can be rigid, but flexible devices are preferred. A moreconventional device such as an orthotic without concavely rounded sidesor lower surface can be placed on top of the midsole, or between themidsole and an insole, on top of the midsole, or in any other suitablelocation. Other portions of the shoe sole may include the concavelyrounded side or sides or underneath portions.

If the insertable midsole orthotic 145 of the '350 patent or the '869patent is used to replace an orthotic, for example, then any of thefeatures of an orthotic can be provided by an equivalent feature,structural support, cushioning or otherwise, in the removable midsoleinsert or insertable midsole orthotic 145. If a midsole is integratedwith an insertable midsole orthotic 145, for example, then the midsolemight be a mass-produced lower layer providing cushioning and support,as well as heel lift, while the insertable midsole orthotic 145 might berounded to the exact shape of the individual wearer's foot and couldprovide other structural or functional corrections specific to theindividual wearer. Alternatively, part of the correction might be madein the midsole, such as, for example, the provision of a medial sideincrease in material firmness to compensate for an individual wearer'sexcessive pronation.

The removable midsole insert 145 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11N ofthe '350 patent can include its own integral upper or bootie, such as ofelastic incorporating stretchable fabric, and its own outer sole forprotection of the midsole and for traction, so that the removablemidsole insert 145 can be worn, preferably indoors, without the shoeupper 21 and outer sole 149. Such a removable midsole insert 145 canstill be inserted into the FIG. 11C upper and sole as described abovefor outdoor or other rigorous use.

FIG. 16 shows an example embodiment of chambers 188 for any footwearsoles, including conventional, or other flexibility uses with anelectromagnetic shock absorption system similar to, for example, theCadillac™ “Magnetic Ride Control” system, wherein magnetically sensitivemetal particles 507 suspended in a shock absorbing fluid 508 are madeless fluid in effect by controlling, on for example a millisecond basis,an electromagnetic field-creating circuit 509 that aligns the metalparticles 507 into a flow resistant structure. The fluid 508 is thus amagnetorheological fluid, that is, a fluid which generally solidifiesinto a pasty consistency when subject to a magnetic field.

FIG. 17A shows an example embodiment like FIG. 11N of applicant'sincorporated published '087, '034 and '665 applications and '869 patentwherein the flow between chambers 188 is controlled by controlling theflow resistance of the fluid 508 by the circuit 509 located to affectthe fluid 508 in one or more of the chambers 188; alternatively, theflow can be controlled by the circuit 509 being located between thechambers.

FIG. 17A shows a similar embodiment and view to that shown in FIG. 15,but including an electromagnetic shock absorption system. FIG. 17B is aclose-up view of an embodiment like FIG. 7, but showingmagnetorheological fluid 508 located within an internal sipe 505.

The FIG. 16-17 example embodiments can be located anywhere in thefootwear sole (and can be used in other applications, includingnon-footwear applications where flexibility increases are useful). TheFIG. 16-17 embodiments can be made with any materials common in thefootwear art, like those in various Nike Air™ commercial examples, orfuture equivalents, or with less common materials, such as fibersdescribed earlier, including either elastic fibers or inelastic fibersor a mix. The FIG. 16-17 example embodiments can be of any practicalnumber in a footwear sole, or any shape, of which useful embodimentsinclude regular geometric shapes or irregular shapes, includinganthropomorphic shapes; and the number or shape can be symmetrical orasymmetrical, including between right and left footwear soles.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 16-17 is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIG. 16-17 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-15 and 18-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined with any one or moreother elements of each other or the inventive or prior art examplesshown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087,'034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81Dand 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the'887 application.

As shown in FIGS. 89A and 89B, the midsole insert 145 can include itsown integral inner or secondary upper 21 a, such as a bootie or slipperincorporating stretchable fabric, i.e. elastic or Spandex®,non-stretchable fabric or both, with typical attachment means such aslaces, straps, Velcro® and zippers, or simply be a slip-on structure,like a slipper or loafer or pull-on boot.

FIGS. 89A and 89B also show the midsole insert 145 with its own thinouter sole 149 a such as of rubber or other suitable, typical materialfor wear protection of the midsole and for traction, so that the midsoleinsert 145 can be worn indoors, for example, without the shoe upper 21and outer sole 149, but can also be inserted into, for example, the FIG.11C upper and sole for heavier use, such as walking outdoors or engagingin athletics. Separate components or an entire outer sole 149 can alsobe affixed directly to the midsole insert 145 with a sufficientlydurable secondary upper 21 a using conventional means for affixing it,such as the interface surface 8 of the outer soles 149 and 149 ainterlocking geometrically, as shown in FIGS. 11E and 11F, inconjunction with straps, or with straps alone, roughly in the manner ofsandals. Similarly, all or part of the shoe upper 21 can be affixedthrough conventional means to the secondary shoe upper 21 a,independently of the outer sole 149 or in combination with it.

FIGS. 89A-89C show an embodiment of an inner shoe in accordance with thepresent invention. FIG. 89A shows, in frontal plane cross section, anembodiment with a very thin coat of traction material such as latexrubber forming a secondary outer sole 149 a which provides traction toprevent slipping and also protects the midsole insert 145 underneathfrom wear, and a lowtop slipper inner upper 21 a. Such a latex rubbercoat can be applied in a continuous manner over part or all of the outersurface of the secondary outer sole 149 a or can be applied in a regularpattern, like dots or circles, as is typical to provide better grip forgloves, or can even be applied in a random pattern.

FIG. 89B shows, in frontal plane cross section, another embodiment witha secondary bottom or outer sole 149 a of a rubber material that mightbe as thin as 1 millimeter, for example, to protect just that part ofthe midsole insert 145 which makes contact with the ground 43 when theintended wearer's foot is upright and therefore that midsole part whichwould wear most quickly due to a high level of ground contact. Othersuitable outsole material can be used. Although not shown, the secondaryouter sole 149 a can extend part or all the way up either or both of therounded shoe sole lateral and medial sides.

FIG. 89B also shows a lowtop slipper inner secondary upper 21 a whichcan envelop all or a portion of the midsole sides, including joiningwith the secondary outer sole 149 a, such as overlapping it on theinside between the midsole insert 145 and the outer sole 149 a. FIG. 89Ashows the secondary upper 21 a connecting to the insole 2. The secondaryupper 21 a can also envelop the insole, although not shown.

FIG. 89C shows in close-up cross section the interface surface 8 betweenthe bottom sole 149 and the secondary bottom sole 149 a of the midsoleinsert 145. Direct contact, as shown of the rubber or rubber-likematerials or 149 and 149 a, provides an excellent means inside the shoesole to prevent internal slipping due to shear forces at the interfacesurface 8, thereby increasing the stability of the shoe sole. Therefore,removal of typical materials other than those of 149 and 149 a, such asboard last material, increases stability. This can be accomplished byoutright removal of a board last after the upper to which it is attachedhas been assembled on a last or assembling without a lasting board.Alternatively, by using a board last with holes or sections removed sothat direct contact can occur at 149 and 149 a; such holes or sectionscan be random or regular, including simply a very loose weave fabric, orcan coincide with some or all of the essential support and propulsionelements of the foot.

In an advantageous embodiment, most or all of the corrective portion ofthe midsole insert 145, such as special shaping or increased densityinserts to compensate for an individual wearer's structural defects, islocated in the upper portion of the midsole insert 145 where it isaccessible through the opening of the secondary upper 21 a foralteration so that it can be modified to better compensate for defectsbased on testing and usage of the intended wearer.

In another advantageous embodiment, only this uppermost correctiveportion is the midsole insert 145, while the lower portion of themidsole is fixed in a conventional manner in the shoe sole. Such anembodiment can still be constructed using the embodiments describedabove, including FIGS. 89A-89B, and the compartments with computercontrol mechanisms. The uppermost midsole insert 145 might include therelatively expensive computer microprocessor and associated memory, forexample, which might communicate with the remaining portions of thecompartment pressure controlling system using a wireless communicationsystem.

FIG. 18 shows an example embodiment of a flexible insert or component511 including a single compartment/chamber 161/188 or bladder with anassociated internal sipe 505 component, again for any footwear sole,including conventional 22, or other flexibility uses (such as thosedescribed above relative to insert 510), to form a single unitary sipedcompartment or chamber; the sipe 505 can extend to part or all of oneside of the single compartment 500, as shown, or the sipe 505 can extendaround portions of the other sides of the singlecompartment/chamber/bladder 500; FIG. 18B shows an example embodiment ina horizontal plane view of 511. The flexible insert 511 can be insertedduring assembly of an article by a maker or manufacturer or isinsertable by a user or wearer (into an article like a shoe, forexample, as part of a removable midsole insert described above), orintegrated into the construction of an article as one or morecomponents.

A benefit of the single siped compartment/chamber/bladder 511 is that,as a single unitary component like 510, it can be used in a conventionalmanner in constructing the footwear sole 28, like that used with aconventional single layer compartment in Nike Air™; i.e. the outersurface of 511 can, as a useful embodiment, adhere to the adjacentmaterial of the footwear sole that contact the 511 component, just aswould the outer surface of a single compartment 161 or chamber 188.However, the internal sipe 505 component of the sipedcompartment/chamber/bladder 511 provides flexibility in a footwear sole28 that is absent in the relatively rigid footwear sole 28 formed with aconventional, single layer compartment 161 or chamber 188.

The siped compartments/chamber/bladder 511 can be located anywhere inthe footwear sole (and can be used in other, non-footwear applicationswhere flexibility increases are useful). The sipedcompartment/chamber/bladders 511 can be made with any materials commonin the footwear art, like those in various Nike Air™ commercialexamples, or future equivalents, or with less common materials, such asfibers described earlier, including either elastic fibers or inelasticfibers or a mix. The siped compartment/chamber/bladders 511 can be ofany practical number in a footwear sole, or any shape, of which usefulembodiments include regular geometric shapes or irregular shapes,including anthropomorphic shapes; and the number or shape can besymmetrical or asymmetrical, including between right and left footwearsoles.

FIG. 18C is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship of aninsert device 511, which has a compartment or chamber or bladder and aninternal sipe, with a midsole 148, bottom sole 149, and upper 21 of ashoe or any other footwear. The midsole 148 and bottom sole 149 (and anyadditional midsole or other layers not shown) together form a shoe solewhich can be any footwear sole, including any conventional sole 22 orany sole 28 according to one of the applicant's patents or applications.In the simple example shown, the device 511 can be inserted during aconventional manufacturing or assembly process or by a footwear wearerand can be located anywhere in the footwear sole and/or upper.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 18 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 18 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention examples described in FIGS. 1-17 and 19-79 and/or associatedtextual specification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully withany one or more other elements of each other or the inventive or priorart examples shown prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 19A shows an example embodiment of a flexible insert or component513 forming a unitary internal sipe for any footwear sole or orthotic orupper, including conventional sole 22, or other flexibility uses (suchas those described above relative to insert 510), the embodiment shownemploying a single internal flexibility sipe 505 in the form of a slit;FIG. 19B shows an example embodiment in a horizontal plane view of FIGS.19A, 20A, and 21A. Multiple unitary internal sipes 513 can be usedindependently or synergistically anywhere in a footwear sole in otheruseful embodiments not shown; the sipes 513 can be stacked proximate toone another or apart, as viewed in a frontal or sagittal plane, forexample; or the sipes 513 can overlap, as viewed in a horizontal plane,for example. The flexible insert 513 can be inserted during assembly ofan article by a maker or manufacturer or is insertable by a user orwearer (into an article like a shoe, for example, as part of a removablemidsole insert described above), or integrated into the construction ofan article as one or more components.

In one useful example embodiment, the unitary internal sipe 513 can bemade as a separate sole component like an extremely thin conventionalgas compartment similar to a Nike Air™ compartment, but without thetypical internal compartment structures (which in another usefulembodiment can be present in some form if unattached to at least oneinner surface so that relative motion between inner surfaces can occurto provide increased flexibility).

A benefit of the unitary internal sipe 513 is that, as a singleinsertable unitary component like 510 and 511, it can be used in aconventional manner in constructing the footwear sole 28, roughly likethat used with a conventional single layer compartment in Nike Air™;i.e. the outer surface of 513 can, as a useful embodiment, adhere to theother portions of the footwear sole that contact the 513 component, justas would the outer surface of a single compartment 161 or chamber 188.

The unitary internal sipe 513 can be located as a separate componentanywhere in the footwear sole (and can be used in other applications,including non-footwear applications where flexibility increases areuseful). The insertable unitary internal sipe 513 can be made with anymaterials common in the footwear art, like those in various Nike Air™commercial examples, or future equivalents, or with less commonmaterials, such as fibers described earlier, including either elasticfibers or inelastic fibers or a mix. The unitary internal sipe 513 canbe of any practical number in a footwear sole, or any shape, of whichuseful example embodiments include regular geometric shapes or irregularshapes, including anthropomorphic shapes; and the number or shape can besymmetrical or asymmetrical, including between right and left footwearsoles.

FIG. 19C is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship of aninsert device 513, which can be a thin compartment or chamber or bladderforming an internal sipe such as a slit, with a midsole 148, bottom sole149, and upper 21 of a shoe or any other footwear. The midsole 148 andbottom sole 149 (and any additional midsole or other layers not shown)together form a shoe sole which can be any footwear sole, including anyconventional sole 22 or any sole 28 according to one of the applicant'spatents or applications. In the simple example shown, the device 513 canbe inserted during a conventional manufacturing or assembly process orby a footwear wearer and can be located anywhere in the footwear soleand/or upper.

FIG. 20A shows the FIG. 19A example embodiment of a unitary internalsipe 513 positioned as a separate component in an embodiment of afootwear sole 28; alternatively, in another example embodiment notshown, the unitary internal sipe 513 can be completely enclosed inconventional midsole material like PU or EVA or similar material.

FIG. 20C shows a frontal plane cross section of an insert device 513 asa thin compartment or chamber or bladder 501 (or walls 512) forming aninternal sipe 505 such as a slit that is located in any footwear sole,including any conventional sole 22 or any sole 28 according to one ofthe applicant's patents or applications; the sole example shown is asingle piece, but can include any number of layers (including forexample multiple midsole or other layers), at least including a midsole148 and outsole 149.

FIG. 21A shows the unitary internal sipe 513 in an example embodimentincluding three separate internal flexibility sipes 505, which in oneembodiment can be completely enclosed in conventional midsole materialsuch as PU or EVA or similar material. Generally, unitary internal sipes513 can thus be subdivided into any practical number of smaller unitaryinternal sipes that are aggregated together (or can be positioned alone,as described earlier).

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 19-20 is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 19-20 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-18 and 21-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 22 shows an example embodiment of a flexible insert or component510 with siped compartment/chamber/bladders used in the footwear upper21 for use in embodiments like the Reebok Pump™ and Pump 2.0™; theflexible insert or component 510 can be positioned anywhere in upper 21,including an orthotic; 511 and 513 can be used also.

FIG. 23 shows an example embodiment of a flexible insert or component510 that is substantially forming the footwear upper 21 in part of theheel and which can be used anywhere else are in all of the upper 21.Note also that the flexible insert or component 510 shown as an examplein FIG. 23 also shows the flexible insert or component 510 positions sothat it is located in both the upper 21 and in the shoe sole or in bothan orthotic and orthotic upper; 511 and 513 can be used also.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 22-23 is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 22-23 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-21 and 24-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIGS. 24A and 24B show, in frontal plane cross section, two exampleembodiments of any helmet 550 for any use with a cushioning helmet liner551 including an inner flexible insert or component 510; any usefulnumber of flexible inserts or components 510 can be used; flexibleinsert or components 511 and 513 can be used also. The inventionincludes any helmet 550 (or part or parts of the helmet) with a liner551 with one or more internal sipes 505 of any form previously describedin this application and any material known in the art located anywherebetween the outer surface and inner surface of the helmet liner 551.

FIGS. 24C and 24D show, in frontal plane cross section, two exampleembodiments of any helmet 550 for any use including one or more internalsipes 505 of any form previously described in this application and anymaterial known in the art located anywhere between the outer surface andinner surface of the helmet 550, and can include, for example, a shockand shear-absorbing media 504 as previously described in thisapplication.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the examples shown in FIGS. 24A-24D is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 24A-24D and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-23 and 25-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 24 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 24 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention or prior art examples described in FIGS. 1-23 and 25-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combinedusefully with any one or more other elements of the inventive or priorart examples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent andthe '087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIGS. 25A and 25B, as well as FIGS. 26A and 26B, show a heel section ofa footwear sole or orthotic with an example of a flexible insert orcomponent 510 using specific examples of the structural elements 502based on commercial examples of Nike Shox™ and Nike Impax™. FIGS. 25Aand 26A show an example of those structural elements of foam materialcontained and affixed within an inner compartment 501. Since use of afoamed material as a media does not require containment to maintain itsstructure and function (in contrast to a gas, liquid, or most gels), afoamed material do not require a separate inner compartment 501 in orderto form an internal sipe 505 with the new outer compartment 500, asnoted under the section on compartment 500/501 media 504 below; thus, asshown in the examples of FIGS. 25B and 26B, suitably configured (interms of interconnections and shape, for example) structural elements502 of a foamed material can form an integral inner compartment 501creating an internal sipe 505 with outer compartment 500.

FIG. 26C shows an example in a horizontal plane cross-section of afootwear sole 22 of a device or flexible insert or component 510 inwhich the inner compartment 501 includes a flexible shank 514 located inthe media 504 in the general area of the instep of the shoe sole betweenthe heel area and the forefoot area. The flexible shank 514 can be madeof any rigid or semi-rigid material including plastic, metal, andcomposites including carbon-fiber common in the art and can have sipes151, of which a vertical slit is one example among a very many wellknown in the art, that are generally oriented from the area of the heelto the area of the forefoot (including at an angle) so that the shoesole 22 is flexible enough to flatten in following the deformationmotion of a wearer's foot sole in a full range of pronation andsupination motion, while remaining sufficiently rigid to supportnaturally the instep area of the shoe sole 22, a area that is relativelythin (often with tapered thickness) and therefore not ground-contactingin many common footwear soles popular in the art and therefore unstablewithout shank support, which is well known in the art but which istypically too narrow to support directly the base of a wearer's fifthmetatarsal and too rigid in a frontal plane to follow a wearer's lateralpronation/supination motion.

FIG. 26D shows two different examples of versions of the flexible shank514 in frontal plane cross section. The upper version shows on the leftside vertical sipes 151 as slits that penetrate the shank fully andwhich can be held together, especially during assembly, by an attachedfiber (or other material, like foam, for example) layer, while on theright side is another variation of sipes (among the vast number ofpossibilities discussed in the applicant's prior patents), which areslits 151′ that do not fully penetrate the flexible shank 514. The lowerversion shows an example of inverted V shaped channels as another sipevariation, with the left side showing full or near full penetration (andagain, a fiber or other layer can be attached) and the right sideshowing the channels connected by portions of the flexible shank 514.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIGS. 25A-25B and 26A-26D is implicit in theoverall invention of this application and, consequently, any part of theexample embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 25A-25B and 26A-26D and/orassociated textual specification can be combined with any other part ofany one or more other elements of each other or the invention or priorart examples described in FIGS. 1-24 and 27-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIGS. 27A-27B shows in cross-section an example of any ball 530 with oneor more internal sipes 505 of any shape located between the outersurface of the ball and an inner surface. The ball includes a structurelike the device or flexible insert 510 above, with an innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 in a typical example having a media 504,which can be pressured gas like air that is sealed (like a tennis ball)or controlled by a valve (not shown) common in the commercial art, likea basketball, and with an outer compartment/chamber/bladder 500.Alternatively, the ball can be structured like a typical golf ball witha solid or relatively solid core (with one or more layers of material)as media 504, which would be separated from the tough outer layer by aninternal sipe 505, which can be made to reduce the uncontrolled spin ofan offcenter shot like a slice or hook, since any spin imparted to thecompartments at the instant of club contact with the ball would becomerelatively disconnected after contact, with the outer compartmentencountering air resistance to its spin, while the core of the innercompartment 501 would encounter friction from the internal sipe 505surfaces. A similar design and construction approach involving andinternal sipe 505 can be used with other devices like skis, bats, toolhandles.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIGS. 27A-27B is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 27A-27B and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of the invention or prior art examples described in FIGS.1-26 and 28-79 and/or associated textual specification and/or, inaddition, can be combined usefully with any one or more other elementsof the inventive or prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS.1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, aswell as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 28A shows in cross-section an example of a tire 535, such as for awheel of a transportation vehicle, with a device 510; the internal sipe505 and/or inner compartment/chamber/bladder 501 can be pressured or not(valve not shown). As shown in the example, innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 can have one or more direct attachments503 to the wheel and the structural elements shown can be made of anyuseful material as is conventional in the art, including plastic and/orplastic composite and/or carbon fiber. The outercompartment/chamber/bladder 500 can be abbreviated to cover only part ofinner compartment/chamber/bladder 501, as shown in FIG. 28, (possiblypressure-sealed to the wheel like a conventional automobile tire andwheel); the outer compartment/chamber/bladder 500 can also beabbreviated further to cover only a lesser portion, including at least atread portion, which can include rubber (natural or synthetic, as canother or all parts of the outer compartment 500. FIG. 28B shows in aside view cross-section an example of shape of structural elements 502of the inner compartment 501 (not shown for simplicity).

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 28 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 28 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention or prior art examples described in FIGS. 1-27 and 29-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combinedusefully with any one or more other elements of each other or theinventive or prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 ofthe '869 patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, as well asadditional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, andalso added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 29A shows, in sagittal plane cross sections, two examples of priorart human breast implants, the first inserted over pectoral muscle andthe second inserted under pectoral muscle. FIG. 29B shows an example ofa human breast implant 540 with a siped compartment/chamber/bladder 510in any of the forms described earlier in this application. The breastimplant 540 can be located like either of the prior art examples in FIG.29A or in another position, or, alternatively, can be incorporated in apad worn externally to the wearer's body. Similar implants or prostheticdevices 540 incorporating a siped compartment/chamber/bladder 510including of anatomical or anatomically compatible shape can be usedanywhere else in or on the human body, or in or on the body of an animalor other biological entity, utilizing any material in the known implantor other art, including new equivalents, for both functional and/orcosmetic purposes, including external use. More generally, the implantor prosthetic device 540 can be any pad incorporating one or moreinternal sipes 505 of any 510/511/513 form described earlier in thisapplication located anywhere within the implant 540 (or connecting tothe outer surface of 500) In one example embodiment, the media 504contained by the inner compartment 501 can be a material like silicone,the media 504 contained by the inner compartment 501 can be a materiallike silicone, while the sipe area 505 can contain a material likewater.

FIGS. 30A-30D show cross sectional examples of any structural or supportelement 550 in any device, including mechanical, electro-mechanical,architectural, electronic, optical, or biological, including a beam orstrut, or a tool or racquet handle or grip, shaft or body, or head, thatincorporates a siped compartment/chamber/bladder 510 of any formdescribed earlier in this application located anywhere within thestructural or support element 550. More generally, the structural orsupport element 550 can be element incorporating one or more internalsipes 505 of any 510/511/513 form described earlier in this applicationlocated anywhere within the structural or support element 550 (orconnecting to the outer surface of 500). The sipe or sipes 505 caninclude one or more sipe media 506 (or 508) the can lubricate the sipeso that 510/511/513 can recoil or rebound after a force impact or loadwith better flexibility, which can be tuned.

The sipe or sipes 505 can use active configuration or control, as shownin FIG. 17B.

FIGS. 30E-30J show cross sectional views perpendicular to the long axiscross-sections shown in FIGS. 30A-D. FIGS. 30E-30F are example crosssections of the example embodiment shown in FIG. 30C; FIGS. 30G-30H areexample cross-sections of the example embodiments shown in FIGS. 30A and30B; and FIGS. 30I-30J are example cross sections of the exampleembodiment shown in FIG. 30D. Numeral 8 shows attachment sections thatcan be glued, for example, to assemble the 510/511513 inventions fromcomponent parts.

The examples shown would typically be made from relatively rigidmaterials for the example embodiments listed above; but, for example,the same structure can be used describe different embodiments, such asFIG. 30F can show a cross section of a relatively rigid tool handle atnumeral 504 surrounded by a 510 embodiment with relatively softermaterials for the bladder or compartment or chamber 500 and 501.

FIG. 31A shows examples of prior art golf clubs. FIG. 31B shows anexample of a golf (or other) club head or racket (or tool head or bodyor handle/grip) 550 with one or more internal sipes 505 of any510/511/512 form described previously in this application locatedanywhere within said club 550 (or connecting to the outer surface of500).

FIG. 32A shows an example of a prior art artificial spinal orintervertebral disk. FIG. 32B shows an example of an artificial spinalor intervertebral disk 560, including any artificial joint disk or anyother surgical or prosthetic device for human or animal with one or moreinternal sipes 505 of any 510/511/513 form previously described withinthis application located anywhere within the outer surface of disk 560(or connecting to the outer surface of 500). The artificial disk 560 canbe located between endplates 561, as in the example shown in FIG. 32B.

FIGS. 33A-33E and 34-35 show examples of shoe soles 22 or 28 or midsoleinsert or orthotics 145 with several planar sides to approximatecurvature from the applicant's WIPO publication No. WO 02,09547, whichcan be combined with the flexible insert or components 510, 511, or 513,including with the examples shown in FIGS. 1-32 and 36-79.

Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIGS. 29-35 is implicit in the overall inventionof this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIG. 29-35 and/or associated textualspecification can be combined with any other part of any one or moreother elements of each other or the invention or prior art examplesdescribed in FIGS. 1-28 and 36-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 36 shows background information from the automotive industryrelating to FIGS. 98 and 99.

FIGS. 37-43 show prior art examples gas bladders of Nike Air™ (119-123),which are FIGS. 12-16 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,534 and Zoom Air™(124-126), which are FIGS. 1-3 of published U.S. Patent Application2005/0039346 A1.

FIG. 44 shows Adidas 1 shoe sole electronic or electromechanicalcushioning system (pg. 96 Popular Science, December 4).

Reference numeral 28 refers to the applicant's footwear sole inventionsin this and prior footwear/orthotic applications and patents, butreference numeral 28 also refers to orthotics and/or corrective footwearin this application, as well as in the applicant's prior footwearapplications and patents that are incorporated by reference herein. Thisis because footwear soles 28 themselves can be custom modified in amanner conventional to the orthotic and/or corrective shoe art withindividualized correction made to the footwear sole 28 as if the entiresole 28 were an orthotic device, rather than just to an orthotic insert145; potentially included are differing corrections between right andleft footwear soles 28 as necessary, as is conventional in theorthotic/corrective shoe art.

Reference numeral 148 refers to midsole, a middle sole layer between thebottom sole and the shoe upper; the midsole has been in commercial usefor about forty years, primarily to provide cushioning in modernfootwear in the form of relatively soft foamed plastic or otherelastomeric material that compresses relatively easily under the bodyweight load of a wearer of a footwear/orthotic sole 28. Standard midsolematerial in the footwear art is the use of a foamed plastic like EVA orPU, as well as other foamed elastomeric materials indicated in paragraphnumber 0178 of the '087 application incorporated by reference hereinearlier or equivalent materials.

Since the primary function of midsole 148 in the footwear art is toprovide cushioning, such foamed plastics in general use are relativelysoft, ranging typically from a fairly soft 30 durometers on a Shore AHardness Scale to a relatively harder 60 durometers and about 40-70durometers on the Asker C Hardness Scale.

It is the applicant's view that these standard ranges of midsolehardness are excessively soft in order to compensate for the generalcommercial use of a non-optimal, not sufficiently anthropomorphic shapefor the basic structure of footwear/orthotic soles 28. That is, thesoftness of the midsole material allows conventional footwear/orthotics22, especially the sides, to bend up more easily into a shape more likethat of a wearers foot sole subjected to a body weight load. Theapplicant's firm view that the more direct and effective approach is toobviate the need to compensate by using an anthropomorphically shapedfootwear/orthotic sole 28 structure, as described previously by theapplicant in this and the applicant's prior footwear applications andpatents incorporated by reference herein. Moreover, recent humanbiomechanics research indicates a counter-intuitive result: that softermidsole cushioning actually causes higher impact forces for a wearer.

Consequently, based on the foregoing, the only direct way to achieve alower, more natural level of impact forces on a wearer is to form a newcombination of significantly firmer midsole material together with thecorrect, anthropomorphic footwear/orthotic sole 28 shape previouslydescribed by the applicant. However, increased firmness alone results ininstability, since footwear/orthotic soles 28 that are rounded and thatdo not flatten easily like the rounded sole of an unloaded wearer's footdoes under a body weight load will function instead roughly like a rigidrocking chair, not a foot sole, which is rounded but flattens easilyunder body weight.

Therefore, increased material firmness must be newly combined withincreased structural flexibility provided by the applicant's internalsipe inventions 510/511/513 in order to create footwear/orthotic soles28, or removable midsole/orthotic inserts 145, that are both roundedlike the shape of a wearer's unloaded foot sole and deformable so as toflatten like that wearer's rounded foot sole flattens under a bodyweight load. As a direct result, at the same time impact forces on awearer are reduced to a natural, bare foot level, while “energy return”is increased to a natural, bare foot level, instead of the relativeenergy loss (actually, “negative energy return”) of conventionalathletic shoe soles compared to the bare foot.

The use of midsole 148 material that is firmer than that which isstandard in the footwear art therefore has significant functionalbenefits in combination with the applicant's internal sipe inventions.Such relatively firm or hard midsole 148 material for footwear/orthoticsoles 28 and inserts 145 can usefully be on a Shore A Hardness Scale,for example, greater than 60 durometers, such as at least 65 durometers,at least 70 durometers, at least 75 durometers, at least 80 durometers,at least 85 durometers, at least 90 durometers, at least 95 durometers,or 100 durometers; or midsole 148 material that is on a Shore D HardnessScale at least 20 durometers or at least 30 durometers or at least 40durometers or at least 50 durometers or at least 60 durometers or atleast 70 durometers or at least 80 durometers or at least 90 durometers;or midsole material that is on the Asker C Hardness Scale greater than70 durometers or over 75 durometers or over 80 durometers or over 85durometers or over 90 durometers or over 95 durometers or 100durometers. Accordingly, for each of the embodiments disclosed in thisapplication, the midsole material 148 may be designed with thisincreased firmness/hardness as discussed in this paragraph above (forexample, a hardness of greater than 60 durometers).

The midsole 148 used in the applicant's footwear or orthotic inventionscan have multiple layers, each with different durometers (of eitherscale), such varying from a firmest nearest to an outsole and a leastfirm nearest to a wearer's foot sole.

Also, since the applicant's view outlined above is that the function ofmidsole 148 material is to provide flexibility, not to providecushioning, then the use of conventional foamed material is no longerrequired, given that the injection of gas to create cells withinconventional midsole 148 material as identified earlier is done toproduce an unnecessary cushioning property into the 148 material.Therefore, reduced foam or non-foamed plastic or other reduced foam ornon-foamed elastomeric (or non-elastomeric materials) or combinationthereof can be usefully employed with improved function in thefootwear/orthotic soles 28 and removable midsole/orthotic inserts 145 ofthis application or the applicant's prior footwear applications andpatents incorporated by reference herein above. Similarly, reduced cell(open or closed) or non-cell plastic or other reduced cell (open orclosed) or non-cell elastomeric (or reduced or non-elastomeric)materials or combination thereof can be usefully employed with improvedfunction in the footwear/orthotic soles 28 and removablemidsole/orthotic inserts 145 of this application or the applicant'sprior footwear applications and patents incorporated by reference hereinabove.

Note that the above reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell ornon-cell elastomeric (or reduced or non-elastomeric) midsole 148material described in this paragraph can be otherwise the same as thoseremaining midsole 148 materials (but without foam and/or cells orreduced foam and/or reduced cells in terms of size or number) indicatedpreviously in paragraph 0178 of the '087 application. Associated withthis reduction would be a cessation or reduction in the gas injected inthe midsole 148 manufacturing or injection process. Note the reductionin cells above can be in number (per unit volume, for example) or sizeor both, and reduced foam and/or cells can be measured in increasedweight per unit such as volume of material, for example.

In summary, it is the use of the applicant's insertable internal sipeinventions, including the 510/511/513 inventions of this application,not midsole 148 foamed or cellular material, that can provide naturalflexibility and impact force reduction like the foot sole of the wearer.In combination with the applicant's novel insertable internal sipeinvention, this new to the footwear art midsole 148 material describedabove uniquely provides a new capability for footwear/orthotic soles 28to function in the same manner and with the same performancecharacteristics as a wearer's foot sole—an important capabilityunavailable with conventional foamed or celled midsole 148 material. Andthis beneficial new combination can also be combined usefully with anyof the applicant's prior footwear/orthotic sole 28 and removablemidsole/orthotic insert 145 to produce other new invention withimproved, more natural performance characteristics.

The bottom or outer sole 149 is often made, at least in one or moreparts, with blown rubber for cushioning and flexibility, so that it issimilar in structure and function to foamed, celled midsole 148 materialdescribed previously. For the same reasons described previously then,the use of non-blown rubber (or reduced cell/foam rubber) combined withthe applicant's internal sipe inventions, such as the 510/511/513inventions of this application, provide useful improvements tofootwear/orthotics 28 and removable midsole/orthotic inserts 145, andcan also usefully be employed in conjunction with the reduced foam ornon-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cell midsole 148 material describedin the previous paragraph.

For both reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cellmidsole 148 or bottom sole 149 materials, the new materials share thenew property of less or no substantial reduction in thickness undercompression from a body weight load of a wearer, while rigidity isavoidable through the flexibility provided by the applicant's internalsipes inventions, including the 510/511/513 inventions of thisapplication. Incompressible solids, that is, materials that can bedeformed but do not change in volume are described by the Mooney-Rivlenequation, which can be useful in identifying material properties withoptimal material characteristics desired by the applicant, which isminimal thickness reduction under compression, but with maximalflexibility.

The additional use of fiber, including inelastic but flexible fiber, isbeneficial in assisting the new midsole 148 (or bottom sole 149) toreduce compression deformation while maintain flexibility of thefootwear/orthotic 28 or insert 145, especially if the fiber 518 islocated or oriented substantially in a plane at least roughlyparalleling the inner surface of the sole 28 or insert 145 which shouldfollow the outer surface of the wearer's foot sole.

The firm or hard material described above for midsole 148 and bottomsole 149 provides better responsiveness than softer materials, adesirable characteristic for athletic shoes particularly and generallybetter stability for any footwear/orthotic soles 28 or inserts 145.Similarly, reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cell sole148 or 149 material allows for thinner footwear/orthotic soles 28 orinserts 145, which reduces the torque inherent in the thickness of thesole 28 or insert 145, thereby also increasing responsiveness anddecreasing instability, such as related to ankle sprains orover-pronation.

Moreover, the applicant's 510/511/513 are uniquely designed to reduceshear forces, rather than compression force (which as noted above isprobably unnecessary), since most artificial surfaces like concrete orasphalt significantly increase shear forces above a natural level,compared to a natural surface like grass or dirt (either loose orpacked). In addition, the potentially excessive bulkiness of theapplicant's curved stability sides shown in this and earlierapplications and patents incorporated by reference herein above isreduced by the thinner sole 28 or insert 145.

Potential midsole 148 and outsole 149 materials include elastomers,rubber, and plastic, as noted above, including polymers (used singularlyor in combination); examples are polyolefins, fluoropolymers, andvinyls, as well as polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, polycarbonate andacrylics, including in the form of fibers. Also, materials with aflexural modulus higher or much higher than is standard in the art isbeneficial.

The new firm or hard, reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell ornon-cell 148 or 149 materials described above on this and the previousthree pages can be used beneficially with footwear/orthotic soles 28 anduppers 21, as well as removable midsole/orthotic inserts 145, and alsowith any other of the previously or later describednon-footwear/orthotic products, including, for example, helmets 550,balls 530, tires 535, implants or external pads or other protection 540,structural elements 550 including golf clubs 550, artificial joints likespinal disks 560, and many other products described or listed in this orprevious applications and patents previously incorporated by referenceherein.

The same logic described above that indicates the improvements providedby using firm-to-hard, reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell ornon-cell 148 or 149 material also applies to materials used in theapplicant's internal sipe inventions, including the 510/511/513inventions of this application, including for example midsole materialused in either the 504 or the 502 components (or both) of the sipedcompartment 510 and 511 inventions.

By the same logic, any gas or “air” used in the 510/511/513 or earlierinventions is less beneficial, although still a useful improvement tothe prior art. Furthermore, by this logic, eithercompartment/chamber/bladder 500 or 501 can contain a firm-to-hard,reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cell midsole 148material, either in a single layer or multiple layers separated byinternal sipes 505 (one or more) between layers, for example a singlesipe 505 between two midsole 148 material layers, such as in the exampleembodiment shown in FIG. 45, wherein the inner compartment 501 containstwo midsole layers. Any practical number of midsole layers of any shapeand associated sipes 505 of any shape is possible, with each additionalassociated sipe 505 providing additional flexibility to thecompartment/chamber/bladder 500 or 501.

FIG. 46 shows a different example embodiment wherein the innercompartment/chamber/bladder 501 shown contains a multitude of ballbearing-type structures made of a midsole 148 material that isfirm-to-hard, reduced foam or non-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cell,as described above. The ball bearings 516 can be fixed or free-movingwithin the inner compartment 501, so that for example if the ballbearings 516 are sufficiently firm-to-hard, the bearings 516 can createsignificant pressure points against a wearer's foot sole since thebearings 516 would not compress significantly under a wearer's bodyweight load, but if relatively free-moving within compartment 501 (oralternatively, with compartment/chamber/bladder 500, such as free-movingwithin a sipe 505, for example), the ball bearing 516 pressure pointscan move sufficiently within the compartment/chamber/bladder 501 toprovide thereby a foot massage to a wearer of the footwear/orthotic sole28 or removable midsole or orthotic insert 145 with acompartment/chamber/bladder 501 or sipe 505 with sufficientlyfirm-to-hard ball bearings 516, which also assist in developing healthyprotective calluses (rather than potentially blisters if the ballbearings 516 were fixed in the same positions so that the point pressuredid not move, such as randomly, which protects the foot sole)

The control system 300 receives pressure data from the pressure sensingsystem and controls the fluid pressure system in accordance withpredetermined criteria which can be implemented via electroniccircuitry, software or other conventional means. The pressure sensingsystem may include a pressure sensing device 104 disposed in the sole ofthe shoe at each zone. As the pressure increases above a threshold, thecontrol system opens (perhaps only partially) a flow regulator to allowfluid to escape from the fluid bladder. Thus, the release of fluid fromthe fluid bladders 188 may be employed to reduce the impact of theuser's foot on the ground. Point pressure under a single bladder 188,for example, can be reduced by a controlled fluid outflow to any othersingle bladder or any combination of other bladders.

Control system 300, which preferably includes a programmablemicrocomputer having conventional RAM and/or ROM, receives informationfrom the pressure sensing system indicative of the relative pressuresensed by each pressure sensing device 104. Control system 300 receivesdigital data from pressure sensing system. Control system 300 is also incommunication with fluid valves 210 to vary the opening of fluid valves210 and thus control the flow of fluid. As the fluid valves 210 of thisembodiment are solenoids (and thus electrically controlled), controlsystem 300 is in electrical communication with fluid valves 210. Ananalog electronic control system 300 with other components being analogis also possible.

The preferred programmable microcomputer of control system 300 selects(via a control line) one of the digital-to-analog (D/A) converters toreceive data from the microcomputer to control fluid valves 210. Theselected D/A converter receives the data and produces an analog voltageproportional to the digital data received. The output of each D/Aconverter remains constant until changed by the microcomputer (which canbe accomplished using conventional data latches, which is not shown).The output of each D/A converter is supplied to each of the respectivefluid valves 210 to selectively control the size of the opening of fluidvalves 210.

Control system 300 also can include a cushion adjustment control toallow the user to control the level of cushioning response from theshoe. A control device on the shoe can be adjusted by the user toprovide adjustments in cushioning ranging from no additional cushioning(fluid valves 210 never open) to maximum cushioning (fluid valves 210open wide). This is accomplished by scaling the data to be transmittedto the D/A converters (which controls the opening of fluid valves 210)by the amount of desired cushioning as received by control system 300from the cushioning adjustment control. However, any suitableconventional means of adjusting the cushioning could be used.

FIG. 47 shows an embodiment example wherein flexible fiber is used toreinforce one or more compartment/chamber/bladders 500 or 501, as shown,wherein elastic or inelastic fibers 518 can be used to help stabilizethe size and shape of the one or more compartments/chambers/bladders 500or 501, such as for example under a body weight load of a wearer, toreduce compression of the sole. Note the fiber 518 shown parallel theshape of the inner surface 30 of the footwear/orthotic sole 28, whichparallels the shape of a wearer's foot sole.

FIG. 48A shows another example embodiment with fiber 518 wherein thefiber 518 is sandwiched between two separate layers of midsole 148 (orbottom sole 149) material, including firm-to-hard, reduced foam ornon-foam and/or reduced cell or non-cell; alternatively, the fiber 518can be embedded within the midsole 148, as shown in FIG. 48B, or bottomsole 149 material; multiple layers of fiber and/or midsole 148 can be auseful improvement, again as shown in FIG. 48B.

FIGS. 48C-48E show alternate embodiment examples of shoe sole materialincorporating vertical sipes based on FIGS. 73A-73C of the '665application that would be incorporated in shoe soles in the manner shownin FIGS. 25B and 26B for FIG. 48C and FIGS. 25A and 26A for FIGS. 48Dand 48E.

FIGS. 49-50 and 51A-51B show examples of embodiments of the usefulimprovement of applicant's siped compartment/chamber/bladder 510invention combined with the gas bladders 501 well known in the art asmade by Nike™ and marketed as Nike Air™ (and shown previously as FIGS.38-40). FIG. 52 is a similar example embodiment incorporating a NewBalance N-ergy™ cartridge as a compartment/chamber/bladder 501 in theapplicant's siped compartment 510 invention.

FIG. 51B shows a side view of the same insertable device 510 shown inFIG. 51A, the device using an example conventional commercial gasbladder as inner bladder or compartment or chamber 500; the device 510is shown located in a shoe sole 28 or 22.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 45-47, 48A-48E, 51A-51B and 52A-C can becombined with any one or more parts of one or more of the previousFigures of this or the applicant's prior footwear applications orpatents incorporated by reference herein. Also, any inventivecombination that is not explicitly described above in the example shownin FIGS. 45-47, 48A-48E, 51A-51B and 52A-C is implicit in the overallinvention of this application and, consequently, any part of the exampleembodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 45-47, 48A-48E, 51A-51B and 52A-Cand/or associated textual specification can be combined with any otherpart of any one or more other elements of each other or the inventiveand prior art examples described in FIGS. 1-44 and 53-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combinedusefully with any one or more other elements of each other or theinventive or prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 ofthe '869 patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, as well asadditional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, andalso added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 53 is a example of a wheel/tire combination, the Michelin™ “Tweel”with the wheel 533 including the 510/511/513 invention and FIG. 54 is aprior art example of a conventional tire.

FIG. 52B shows a detailed frontal plane cross section of an exampleconventional commercial gas bladder/compartment/chamber shown as innerbladder or compartment or chamber 501 in schematic perspective in FIG.52A. FIG. 52C shows the same detailed cross sectional view of the sameinner bladder or compartment or chamber 501 enveloped by an outerbladder or compartment or chamber 500 forming an insertable sipedcompartment 510, including wherein all or part of the sipe 505 is aslit.

FIG. 55 is cross-section enlarged view of slightly more than half of afootwear/orthotic sole 28 comprising at least in part or entirely amixture or mixtures of any kind of plastic 521 polymers and elastomersand rubber 522 or compounds and combinations thereof, including mixturesincluding particles or components (including microscopic or at themolecular level) of any number (per unit volume, for example), size, orshape, including compounds with minimal or no substantial or nocompression under a body weight load, and can include liquid or gelinjection molding. The benefit of the mixture material is create asingle material with more flexibility than a typical bottom sole 149material, while at the same time providing better durability than atypical midsole material 148, including new forms of those materialsdescribed by the applicant previously. Optionally, the applicant's 510and 511 inventions can also in the same manner include the same mixtureor another mixture as described in this paragraph, as can removablemidsole/orthotic inserts 145.

FIG. 56 is a similar cross-section to FIG. 55 showing a portion of afootwear/orthotic sole 28 comprising at least in part or entirely amidsole 148 material including cells 517 that include a liquid or gel,either partially or substantially or completely. The liquid or gel cells517 can be of any number (per unit of volume, for example), or size, orshape, and the midsole 148 material surrounding the cells can benon-compressible or not substantially compressible or minimallycompressible. The benefit of this material structure is that the liquidor gel cell would be at least minimal compression under a body weightload, in marked contrast to the substantial compression and associateddegraded performance of conventional midsole 148 materials withconvention gas cells. Liquid or gel injection molding can be utilizedtherefore in place of gas injection molding.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 55-56 can be combined with any one ormore parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 55-56 is implicit in theoverall invention of this application and, consequently, any part of theexample embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 44-56 and/or associatedtextual specification can be combined with any other part of any one ormore other elements of each other or the invention and prior artexamples described in FIGS. 1-54 and 57-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with eachother or any one or more other elements of the inventive or priorexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIGS. 57 and 58 are additional examples of embodiments of theapplicant's 510/511/513 inventions applied to tire 535 design, as wereearlier FIGS. 28A and 28B. FIG. 57 shows a cross-section of a tire 535embodiment with an outer tire 500 and an inner tire 501, with aninternal sipe 505 between the two tires 500 and 501; and the sipe 505shown includes media 506 and/or fiber 518, such as Kevlar™ and/or carbonfiber or any other fiber (or steel or other metal cable), on for examplethe outer surface of the inner tire 501 (or embedded therein orthereon).

FIG. 58 shows an example embodiment of a tire 535 with an internal sipe505 above the tread 526 area and, for one example, above steel belts537; the internal sipe 505 includes a Magnetorheoloical Fluid 508 and inproximity to the sipe 505, such as directly above as shown, can bePiezoelectric components 519 that can provide activating current understress such as tire deformation to the magnetic fluid 508 to make itresistant to further deformation; i.e., the greater the stressdeformation, the greater the resistance to further deformation, makingthe tire 535 a self-powered active suspension component.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 53 and 57-58 can be combined with any oneor more parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 53 and 57-58 is implicitin the overall invention of this application and, consequently, any partof the example embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 53 and 57-58 and/orassociated textual specification can be combined with any other part ofany one or more other elements of each other or the invention and priorart examples described in FIGS. 1-52, 54-56, and 59-79 and/or associatedtextual specification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully anyone or more other elements of each other or the inventive examples shownin prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the '087, '034 and'665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887application.

FIG. 59 shows a perspective view of a glove 571 (or mitten or mitt, suchas a baseball mitt, with an example embodiment of the applicant's 510 or511 or 513 invention in two areas; any of the inventions can be used inany area of the glove or any number or in combination with each otherand can be asymmetrical between right and left, or any other of thepreviously described variations can be used beneficially.

FIG. 60A shows a perspective view of example embodiments of protectiveapparel or clothing 570 such as pant or shorts with the applicant's 510or 511 or 513 invention used in two areas. Similarly, FIGS. 60B and 60Cshow exemplary embodiments including dressings, as well as bandages andtape with the applicant's 510 or 511 or 513 invention. It is understoodthat other protective apparel, clothing, and dressing embodiments withany of the previously described variations can be used beneficially.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 59 and 60A-60C can be combined with anyone or more parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 59 and 60A-60C is implicitin the overall invention of this application and, consequently, any partof the example embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 59 and 60A-60Cand/or associated textual specification can be combined with any otherpart of any one or more other elements of each other or the inventionand prior art examples described in FIGS. 1-58 and 61-79 and/orassociated textual specification and/or, in addition, can be combinedusefully with any one or more other elements of each other or theinventive or prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 ofthe '869 patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, as well asadditional FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, andalso added FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 61A shows a perspective view of a laptop personal computer 580 orany other electronic device with one of a potential multitude ofpotential example embodiments of the applicant's 510 or 511 or 513inventions described above are used in two areas, but other usefulembodiments with any of the previously described variations can beemployed beneficially. For example, as shown, the 510/511/513 inventionscan be used for cushioning selected corners of the laptop or can beintegrated in the laptop frame in the same or other areas; and/orindividual components of the laptop computer such as a harddrive can beprotected by being mounted in a protected 510/511/513, such as thehousing of the harddrive forming an inner compartment 501 of the 510siped compartment invention. FIG. 61B shows a semiconductor microchipdevice 581 example including a part of a die or an entire die ormultiple dies assembled together using the applicant's 510/511/513invention; other devices 581 can include other micro- and nanotechnologydevices, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS),field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA's) and faraday cages, photovoltaiccells, fuel cells, batteries, and including devices assembled at themolecular or anatomic scale.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 61A-61B can be combined with any one ormore parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 61A-61B is implicit in theoverall invention of this application and, consequently, any part of theexample embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 61A-61B and/or associatedtextual specification can be combined with any other part of any one ormore other elements of each other or the invention and prior artexamples described in FIGS. 1-60 and 62-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 62 shows a perspective view of a piece of cushioned furniture 590,such as the chair shown, with an example embodiment of the applicant's510 or 511 or 513 invention shown in the seat cushion and the backcushion, but many other embodiments with any of the previously describedvariations can be usefully employed.

FIG. 63 shows a perspective view of a bed with a mattress 591 having anexample embodiment of the applicant's 510 or 511 or 513 invention, whichcan also be used as a separate mattress topper, and either can be in theform of many other embodiments with any of the previously describedvariations.

FIGS. 64 and 65 show perspective view of a pillow 591 and a wedgecushion 591, respectively, each with an example embodiment of theapplicant's 510 or 511 or 513 invention, and many other embodiments withany of the previously described variations can be usefully employed witheither.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 62-65 can be combined with any one ormore parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 62-65 is implicit in theoverall invention of this application and, consequently, any part of theexample embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 62-65 and/or associatedtextual specification can be combined with any other part of any one ormore other elements of each other or the invention and prior artexamples described in FIGS. 1-61 and 66-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 66 shows a cross-section through radius view of the roughlycircular example embodiment of a cable 610 of wire or optical fiber orwaveguide (including optical omniguide), for example, with inner andouter layers (such as 501 and 500 or 512) and an internal sipe 505between layers, as one example of the applicant's 510 or 511 or 513inventions; alternatively, FIG. 66 can show a hose schematically, withthe center hollow and proportionately larger. Many other usefulembodiments of either with any of the previously described variationsare potentially beneficial.

Any one or more parts of FIG. 66 can be combined with any one or moreparts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or the applicant'sprior footwear applications or patents incorporated by reference herein.Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitly described abovein the example shown in FIG. 66 is implicit in the overall invention ofthis application and, consequently, any part of the example embodimentsshown in preceding FIG. 66 and/or associated textual specification canbe combined with any other part of any one or more other elements of theinvention and prior art examples described in FIGS. 1-65 and 67-79and/or associated textual specification and/or, in addition, can becombined usefully with any one or more other elements of the inventiveor prior art examples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869patent and the '087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additionalFIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also addedFIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application.

FIG. 67 shows a chart displaying “Approximate Comparison of HardnessScales”. Products using the 510 or 511 or 513 inventions can be made ofany material and any material hardness shown in chart, includingRockwell C and B Scales and Brinell Hardness Scale, including metallicand ceramic, generally for non-cushioning, relatively rigid structuralelements into which a degree of flexibility is to be introduced usingthe applicant's 510/511/513 inventions, specific examples of which areshown in FIGS. 24C-24D, 30A-30C, 31B, 32B, 61, 68, 69, 71, and 73A.

FIG. 68 shows an example of a building 620 such as a house including afoundation, the building including a multitude of architecturalcomponents including any structural component with any of theapplicant's 510/511/513 inventions, including foundation, wall,flooring, door, ceiling, window, and roof components.

FIG. 69 shows an example of a human torso brace 630 with any of theapplicant's 510/511/513 inventions with cushioning components and/ormore rigid protective components.

FIG. 70 shows an example of a knee brace 630 with inner pads 631 withany of the applicant's 510/511/513 inventions.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 69-70 can be combined with any one ormore parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 69-70 is implicit in theoverall invention of this application and, consequently, any part of theexample embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 69-70 and/or associatedtextual specification can be combined with any other part of any one ormore other elements of each other or the invention and prior artexamples described in FIGS. 1-68 and 71-79 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 71 shows that any of the structural components of an example of atransportation vehicle 645 such as a automobile, bus, truck, motorcycle,boat, barge, airplane, helicopter, blimp, or any other transportation orwork vehicle can beneficially incorporate any of the applicant's510/511/513 inventions.

FIG. 72 shows that any of the cushioning components of an example of aninterior 646 of a transportation vehicle such as a automobile, bus,truck, motorcycle, boat, barge, airplane, helicopter, blimp, or anyother transportation or work vehicle can beneficially incorporate any ofthe applicant's 510/511/513 inventions.

FIG. 73B shows a prior art tennis racquet and FIG. 73A shows an exampleof a tennis or other sports racquet 550 or sports stick for hockey orlacrosse or golf club shaft that can beneficially incorporates any ofthe applicant's 510/511/513 inventions.

FIGS. 74-79 show other examples such as electronic game controllers orany other remote controllers 580, manual tools 550, power tools 550,household tools 550 like electric irons, bicycles 640 and cell phones580 that can beneficially incorporates any of the applicant's510/511/513.

Any one or more parts of FIGS. 68 and 71-79 can be combined with any oneor more parts of one or more of the previous Figures of this or theapplicant's prior footwear applications or patents incorporated byreference herein. Also, any inventive combination that is not explicitlydescribed above in the example shown in FIGS. 68 and 71-79 is implicitin the overall invention of this application and, consequently, any partof the example embodiments shown in preceding FIGS. 68 and 71-79 and/orassociated textual specification can be combined with any other part ofany one or more other elements of each other or the invention and priorart examples described in FIGS. 1-67 and 69-70 and/or associated textualspecification and/or, in addition, can be combined usefully with any oneor more other elements of each other or the inventive or prior artexamples shown in prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '869 patent and the'087, '034 and '665 applications, as well as additional FIGS. 76-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C of the '665 application, and also added FIGS. 1-43of the '887 application.

FIG. 80A shows that, in an analogous way, especially to the thicker heelportion of a typical shoe sole, a thick urban area telephone book has ineffect hundreds of mostly “internal sipes”, each page being in effectseparated by a horizontal internal slit from each adjacent page, each ofwhich thereby is able to move freely relative to each other, resultingin a flexible telephone book that bends quite easily as is well known byall, while at the same time relatively stable when a vertical force likebody weight is applied. FIG. 80B shows, in contrast, if the same woodfiber material with the same dimensions as a thick telephone book wereformed instead into a single piece of wood with no pages, like a solidparticle board, it would be quite rigid with little flexibility,although it will support a body weight stably. FIG. 80C shows if,instead, the sipes were rotated 90 degrees into vertical slits and opento the bottom, so that the spine of a much wider telephone book withshorter pages is on top (in the form of a shoe sole with deep openexternal sipes, those external sipes would also provide a substantialamount of flexibility like that of the human foot sole, but at the costof excessive instability when a vertical force like body weight isapplied, as is obvious from common experience, since the pages willsplay out uncontrollably.

FIGS. 81A-81D shows the a significant benefit of the applicant'sinsertable sipe component 510/511/513 compared to the applicant'searlier sipe invention, which is shown in FIG. 81A (which is FIG. 12B ofthe '665 application), wherein sipes are indicated by numerals 181 and182, which allows an inner midsole section 188 to move freely insideouter midsole sections 184 and a bottom sole 149. The sipes are createdby not gluing the three sections together during assembly of the shoesole except where the outer midsole sections 184 join the bottom sole149 at numeral 8. FIG. 81B highlights the very small area of the gluejoint, which requires a delicate and new manufacturing glue step ofgreat accuracy during assembly and a resulting relatively weak jointbetween bottom sole and midsole, for example.

FIG. 81C shows an example of the applicant's 510 invention thatillustrates the much larger glue joint between midsole and bottomsolesurfaces allowed through the use of the outer chamber 500 component, allof which can be glued to the surrounding midsole and bottomsole in aconventional assembly fashion, so that manufacturing of a shoe sole withthe 510 invention is much simpler and unchanged from normal currentpractice for assembling conventional shoe soles with gas bladders likeNike Air™ and the resulting bond between bottomsole and midsole is muchmore secure, similar to that of a conventional shoe sole. FIG. 81D showsthe very much larger surface area 8 used for gluing the bottom sole 149to the outer midsole 184 (compared to the small glue area 8 shown inFIG. 81B and resulting much weaker joint between sole components in theearlier FIG. 81A sipe invention than in conventional shoe soles).

FIGS. 82A-82C, 83A-83C, 84A-84F, 85A-85D, 86A-86E and 87 illustratefurther embodiments of the use of internally siped compartments orchambers (510) and/or flexible inserts and internal sipe components (511and 513) with different shoe sole or orthotic configurations. FIG.82A-82C, 83A-83C, 84A-84F, 85A-85D, 86A-86E and 87 are exampleembodiments of the 510 or 511 or 513 inventions in the embodiments shownin FIG. 11A-11C, 21-23, 39A-39E & 40, 49A-49D, 51A-51E, and 62 of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/282,665, filed Nov. 21, 2005 and published onNov. 9, 2006, on Pub. No. US 2006/0248749 A1, which is incorporated byreference in this application.

Any example of a new invention shown in the preceding FIGS. 1-81 and/orassociated textual specification can be combined with any other part ofany one or more other of the prior art or the applicant's priorinvention examples shown in FIGS. 1-3, 5-7, 9, 11-42, 44-52, 55-62,64-82 from prior published FIGS. 1-75 of the '087, '034 and '665applications and '869 patent, and FIGS. 76-80, 81A-81D and 82A-82C ofthe '665 application, as well as FIGS. 1-43 of the '887 application (allof which have been herein incorporated by reference), and/or combinedwith any one or more other of subsequent new inventions shown in theexamples described in FIGS. 1-79 and/or associated textual specificationof this application to make new and useful improvements over theexisting art.

The many preceding examples of embodiments of the applicant'sinventions, devices or flexible inserts or components 510, 511, and 513,have many useful applications. Generally, the resilient inserts 510,511, and 513 can be used for cushioning an object or a user, includingcushioning equipment and apparel for athletic or non-athletic,occupational, recreational, medical, and other uses, including afootwear sole or upper or orthotic or orthotic upper, as well asover-the-counter footwear inserts, such as pads, insoles or archsupports.

The flexible inserts or components 510, 511, and 513 can be used in anyprotective clothing, like flexible insert 510 in the interior of thehelmet shown in FIG. 24 that can be employed for any typical helmetapplications, examples including sports like American football, biking,climbing or hockey and others; occupational, like construction ormilitary or others; and transportation, like motorcycle, bicycle,automobile, or other; the flexible insert 510 (or 511 or 513 as usefulalternatives) is shown as padding inside a relatively hard or semi-hardouter shell protective material including materials like plastic,carbon-fiber, ceramic, or other composites or metal or combinationsthereof. The flexible inserts 510, 511, and 513 can be used in a similarshell construction for athletic or military protective equipment likeface masks (which can be attached or integrated into the helmet), neck,shoulder, chest, hip, knee or elbow, shin and forearm guards, thigh orbiceps guards, groin, hand, foot, and other guards, pads, or protectors.

Alternatively, flexible inserts or components 510, 511, and 513 can beused as padding alone or with a soft or relatively soft outer surface(without a hard shell) for medical uses (prescriptive or over thecounter) like generally in the field of orthopaedics (like braces, suchas back or leg or ankle braces and replacement spinal or other disks forspinal or other joint surgery or non-joint surgery), plastic surgery(including breast and other fatty deposit replacement/enhancementimplants), prosthetics and podiatrics, and elderly or recuperative careto protect the above noted anatomical structures and for dentalapplications, like mouth guards (athletic teeth protectors and nightguards and braces); in addition, similar padding can be used onartificial limbs and other prosthetic devices or braces and handles orgrips, such as for crutches, walkers, canes; or in sports rackets ortools, like hammers, including powered, and handlebars, and guns andrifles and other devices with recoil shock; or for safety padding forcrash protection, such padding for automobile dashboards or seat backs(including in airplanes, buses, and crash safety inflatable air bags.

Broadly, the flexible inserts or components 510, 511, and 513 can beusefully employed anywhere that cushioning already is being used,including bed and other furniture cushioning (including for specialseating needs, like bicycle or other seats), packaging for shipping,luggage, playground and other flooring, protective padding or cases forequipment of any sort, including portable devices like PC laptops orvideo players and/or games, cell phones, personal digital assistants(PDA's), and personal digital music players like Apple Ipods™ and MP3players, as examples, such as the mounting of delicate electronic (orother) components like hard-drives or for vibration dampening, such asin automobile structural and body components and connections.

In addition, if not otherwise shown in this application, one or morefeatures or components of the example embodiments of the applicant's newfootwear inventions shown in the preceding new FIGS. 1-23 and 25-26 andassociated textual specification can be usefully employed in novelcombination, for example, with one or more features or components of theapplicant's previous inventive shoe soles and orthotics as described inFIGS. 1-82 of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/282,665 published asPublication No. US 2006/0248749 A1 on Nov. 9, 2006, as well as PCTApplication Number PCT/US2005/042341WIPO which was published on 1 Jun.2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/058013, which are eachindependently hereby explicitly incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety for completeness of disclosure, including but not limited tothose combinations that: incorporate uppers that envelope the midsoleand/or outsole and/or other features shown in published application '665prior FIGS. 5-7 and 13; incorporate anthropomorphic shapes and/orchambers and/or other features shown in prior FIGS. 9 and 10;incorporate integral or insertable orthotics ormicroprocessor-controlled variable pressure and/or other features shownin prior FIG. 11; incorporate sipes and/or other features shown in priorFIG. 12; use uniform thickness (measured in frontal planecross-sections) in rounded sole side or sole bottom portions, especiallyat essential support and stability elements and/or other features shownin prior FIGS. 14-16, 29-46 and 76-77; use increased or decreased (orvariable) thickness in rounded sole side portions and/or other featuresshown in prior FIGS. 17-20, 24, and 27-28; use increased or decreaseddensity or firmness in rounded sole side or bottom portions and/or otherfeatures shown in prior FIGS. 21-23 and 25-26; use rounding of the outersurface of the midsole on a sole side and/or other features shown inprior FIG. 43A; employ bent-in rounded sides and/or other features shownin prior FIG. 47; uses bulges with or without uniform thickness, atimportant support or propulsion areas and/or features shown in priorFIGS. 48 and 75; incorporates a flat heel (meaning no heel lift) and/orother features shown in prior FIGS. 51A-51E; incorporates negative heelembodiments and/or other features shown in prior FIGS. 49A-49D and50A-50E; use rounded sides with variable thickness and firmness and/orother features shown in prior FIG. 52; employs sipes and/or otherfeatures shown in prior FIGS. 53-57, 70-71 and 73A-73B; incorporatesfiber and/or multiple layers of chambers and/or other features shown inprior FIGS. 58-60; employ shoe soles or orthotics with sufficient widththroughout or at specific portions to support a wearer's bone structuresthroughout a full range of motion and/or other features shown in priorFIGS. 61-65 and 72; uses relatively planar sides with rounded underfootsole portions and/or other features shown in prior FIGS. 66 and 67; usessimilarly shaped rounding on sole sides of different thickness atdifferent parts of the sole and/or other features shown in prior FIG.69; uses a variation of heel or forefoot lifts and/or other featuresshown in FIG. 74; and/or other features shown in prior FIGS. 78-80,81A-81D and 82A-82C.

The prior published FIGS. 1-75 in the preceding paragraph are the sameFIGS. 1-75 of the applicant's two earlier applications, U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/190,087 published as Publication No. US 2005/0268487 A1 onDec. 8, 2005 describing footwear and U.S. application Ser. No.11/108,034 published as Publication No. US 2005/0217142 A1 on Oct. 6,2005 describing orthotics, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,869, issuedMar. 14, 2006 (of which the '034 application is a continuation). Both ofthose '087 and '034 applications and their U.S. publications and the'869 patent are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in itsentirety for completeness of disclosure of the applicant's combinationof one or more features or components of those prior published FIGS.1-75 with one or more features or components of FIGS. 1-23 and 25-26 ofthe present application, as described in the preceding paragraph.

In addition, one or more features or components of FIGS. 1-23 and 25-26of the present application can be usefully combined with one or morefeatures or components of FIGS. 1-43 of the applicant's earlierapplication Ser. No. 11/179,887 published as Publication No. US2005/0241183 A1 on Nov. 3, 2005 describing footwear. The '887 is herebyexpressly incorporated by reference in its entirety for completeness ofdisclosure of such novel combinations of any part or parts of thisapplication, including any one or more features or components of newFIGS. 1-23 and 25-26 described in this application, and any one or morefeatures or components of prior FIGS. 1-43 from any part or parts of the'887 application (and/or additionally combined with any part or parts ofthe preceding '087 and/or '034 applications or the '665 application).More explicitly, any one or more features or components of new FIGS.1-23 and 25-26 described in this application can be usefully combinedwith any one or more features or components of '887 FIGS. 5-7 withuppers that envelope the midsole and/or outsole and/or other featuresshown; '887 FIGS. 9-10, 12E, 12F, 13E, and 14A with anthropomorphicshapes and/or chambers and/or other features shown; '887 FIGS. 11,12A-12D and 13A-D with footwear soles incorporating fibers and/or otherfeatures shown; '887 FIGS. 16A-D through 27 with footwear sole internalsipes and/or other features shown; '887 FIGS. 28-30 with sufficientwidth in the form of rounded sides to support neutrally the full rangeof a wearer's ankle and foot motion and/or other features shown; '887FIGS. 31 and 32A-32M with footwear sole support, including for women'shigh heel pumps, at one or more of the applicant's essential stabilityelements and/or other features shown; '887 FIGS. 35-40 with footwearsole sipes in the form of slits and channels and/or other featuresshown; '887 FIGS. 41-42 with footwear soles having uniform frontal planethickness (measured in a frontal plane cross-section) and naturalflattening deformation under a wearer's body weight and/or othersfeatures shown; and '887 FIG. 43 with footwear soles having roundedsides with higher density midsole sides and/or other features shown.

Any combination that is not explicitly described above is implicit inthe overall invention of this application and, consequently, any part ofthe inventions shown in the examples shown in preceding FIGS. 1-79and/or textual specification can be combined with any other part of anyone or more other inventions shown in FIGS. 1-79 and/or associatedtextual specifications and also can be combined with any one or moreother inventive examples of published '665 application prior FIGS. 1-82and/or textual specification of this application to make new and usefulimprovements over the existing art.

Published '665 application prior FIGS. 1-82 and associated textualspecification are also the same—verbatim—as the applicant's PCTapplication No. PCT/US01/13096, published by WIPO as WO 01/80678 A2 on 1Nov. 2001; for completeness of disclosure, WO 01/80678 A2 in itsentirety is also herein incorporated by reference into this application,as is PCT/US01/23865, published by WIPO as WO 02/09547 A2 on Feb. 7,2002, both of which are available to the public in English on the WIPOWeb Site in their entirety. Also incorporated by reference herein ispublished PCT Application No. PCT/US2005/042341, which is the same inits entirety as the '665 application.

The '547 WIPO publication, titled “Shoe Sole Orthotic Structures andComputer Controlled Compartments”, is also incorporated herein byreference to provide additional information on the applicant's priororthotic inventions, which can usefully be combined with the orthoticinventions described and claimed in this application. However, theapplicant's insertable midsole orthotic 145 in the '547 Publication (andthe above referenced '034 application on orthotics) is very similar tothe applicant's removable midsole insert 145 as described in thisapplication and can generally be understood to be the same in structureand materials, although with a principal difference. Typically, anorthotic 145 is designed specifically for an individual wearer, unlikealmost all footwear, which is mass-produced using lasts based on averagefoot shapes for specific populations; the only exception is customfootwear, which is relatively rare and simply cobbled more directly tothe individual shape of the wearer's feet. The principal difference isthat typically orthotics 145 are designed to be prescribed, for example,by a qualified expert like a health care professional such as a doctoror podiatrist in order to treat a wearer's diagnosed footwear-relatedproblem; generally, orthotics 145 are for prescriptive, therapeutic,corrective, or prosthetic uses.

The applicant's other footwear U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,989,349; 5,317,819;5,544,429; 5,909,948; 6,115,941; 6,115,945; 6,163,982; 6,308,439;6,314,662; 6,295,744; 6,360,453; 6,487,795; 6,584,706; 6,591,519;6,609,312; 6,629,376; 6,662,470; 6,675,498; 6,675,499; 6,708,424;6,729,046; 6,748,674; 6,763,616; 6,789,331; 6,810,606; 6,877,254;6,918,197; 7,010,869; 7,082,697; 7,093,379; 7,127,834; 7,168,185; and7,174,658 are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entiretyinto this application for completeness of disclosure of the applicant'snovel and useful combination of one or more of any of the features orcomponents of any of the figures of this application with one or more ofany of the features of any one or more of the preceding applicant'spatents listed above in this paragraph.

The applicant's other footwear U.S. applications with PublicationNumbers US 20020000051; 20020007571; 20020007572; 20020014020;20020014021; 20020023373; 20020073578; 20020116841; 20030046830;20030070320; 20030079375; 20030131497; 20030208926; 20030217482;20040134096; 20040250447; 20050016020; 20050086837; 20050217143; and20060032086 are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety into this application for completeness of disclosure of theapplicant's novel and useful combination of one or more of any of thefeatures or components of any of the figures of this application withone or more of any of the features of any one or more of the precedingapplicant's published U.S. applications listed above in this paragraph.

The applicant's non-footwear patents on global network computers, U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,167,428; 6,732,141; 6,725,250; 7,024,449; 7,035,906, and7,047,275 are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entiretyinto this application for completeness of disclosure of the applicant'snovel and useful combination of one or more of any of the features orcomponents of any of the figures of this application with one or more ofany of the features of any one or more of the preceding applicant'spatents listed above in this paragraph.

The applicant's non-footwear applications on global network computers,U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/085,755; 09/884,041; 09/935,779;10/663,911; 11/196,527; 11/329,423; and 11/338,887, as well as U.S.application Ser. Nos. 10/802,049 and 10/684,657 with U.S. PublicationNumbers US 2004/0215931 published Oct. 28, 2004 and US 2005/0180095published Aug. 18, 2005, respectively, are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety into this application forcompleteness of disclosure of the applicant's novel and usefulcombination of one or more of any of the features or components of anyof the figures of this application with one or more of any of thefeatures of any one or more of the preceding applicant's applications,including published applications, listed above in this paragraph.

To avoid confusion, any numeral in the above listed non-footwear patentsor applications relating to computers that is the same as a numeral inthe above listed footwear patents or applications should have (or bepresumed to have) a prefix numeral of “1” added to the numeral (theequivalent of adding “1000” to the numeral, so that all the numerals ofboth sets of applications and patents remain unique).

In the following claims, the term “chamber” means a compartment 161 or achamber 188 or a bladder and the term “sipe” means a sipe 505 or a slitor a channel or a groove as described in the textual specification aboveand associated figures of this application.

The foregoing shoe designs meet the objectives of this invention asstated above. However, it will clearly be understood by those skilled inthe art that the foregoing description has been made in terms of thepreferred embodiments and various changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the present invention which is to bedefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoe or other footwear comprising: a shoe upperand a shoe sole including at least a bottom sole portion; at least aportion of said shoe sole being formed by a sole section having an innersurface and an outer surface and wherein the sole section is separatefrom the bottom sole portion; at least a portion of the sides of saidshoe upper being attached directly to the bottom sole portion such thatthe shoe upper envelopes, on the outside, at least the sole section ofsaid shoe sole, such that the sole section of said shoe sole is locatedwithin a structure formed by a combination of said bottom sole portionand a portion of said shoe upper that is attached to said bottom soleportion, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe soleis upright and in an unloaded condition; the inner surface of the solesection including at least one convexly rounded portion, said convexitybeing determined relative to a portion of the sole section directlyadjacent to the inner surface of the sole section, as viewed in afrontal plane cross-section when the sole section is upright and in anunloaded condition; the outer surface of the sole section including atleast one concavely rounded portion, said concavity being determinedrelative to a portion of the sole section directly adjacent to the outersurface of the sole section, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-sectionwhen the sole section is upright and in an unloaded condition; each saidconcavely rounded portion of the outer surface of the sole section beinglocated on the sole section at a location corresponding to the locationof at least one convexly rounded portion of the inner surface of thesole section so as to define a rounded portion of the sole sectionlocated between said convexly rounded portion of the inner surface ofthe sole section and said concavely rounded portion of the outer surfaceof the sole section, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when thesole section is upright and in an unloaded condition; the sole sectionincluding at least two inner bladders, each inner bladder containing atleast one fluid, and wherein at least a part of each of said at leasttwo inner bladders is located in a single frontal plane cross-section ofthe shoe sole when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloadedcondition; at least one duct and/or valve providing fluid communicationbetween said at least two inner bladders; at least one electroniccontrol system including a microprocessor that controls the fluidcommunication; the sole section further comprising at least one outerbladder, said inner bladders being located inside said outer bladder;and said bladder and said inner bladders being separated at least inpart by an internal sipe; and wherein said internal sipe is formed by atleast a portion of an inner surface of said bladder and at least aportion of an outer surface of each of said inner bladders; and theinner and outer surface portions forming the sipe oppose each other andtherefore can move relative to each other in a sliding motion.
 2. Theshoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a roundedpart of each said rounded portion of the sole section between parallelrounded portions of the outer and inner surfaces of the sole section hasa uniform thickness, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when thesole section is upright and in an unloaded condition, and said roundedpart of the sole section having uniform thickness extends from at leasta centerline of the sole section to proximate at least one sidemostextent of the sole section, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-sectionwhen the sole section is upright and in an unloaded condition.
 3. Theshoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a roundedpart of each said rounded portion of the sole section between parallelrounded portions of the outer and inner surfaces of the sole section hasa uniform thickness, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when thesole section is upright and in an unloaded condition, and said roundedpart of the sole section having uniform thickness extends to proximateboth sidemost extents of the of the sole section, as viewed in a frontalplane cross-section when the sole section is upright and in an unloadedcondition.
 4. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, whereinat least a rounded part of each said rounded portion of the sole sectionbetween parallel rounded portions of the outer and inner surfaces of thesole section has a uniform thickness, as viewed in a frontal planecross-section when the sole section is upright and in an unloadedcondition, and the sole section includes at least two rounded partshaving a uniform thickness, and wherein one said rounded part of thesole section which has a uniform thickness is located on a side of thesole section and extends at least proximate to a sidemost extent of theside of the sole section, as viewed in a first frontal planecross-section when the sole section is upright and in an unloadedcondition, and a second said rounded part of the sole section which hasa different uniform thickness is located on a side of the sole sectionand extends at least proximate to a sidemost extent of the side of thesole section, as viewed in a second, different frontal planecross-section when the sole section is upright and in an unloadedcondition.
 5. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid at least two bladders contain at least one liquid, gas or gel. 6.The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solesection comprises: at least three inner bladders, and wherein at least apart of each of said at least three inner bladders is located in asingle frontal plane cross-section of the sole section when the solesection is upright and in an unloaded condition; and said shoe solecomprises two or more ducts providing fluid communication between saidat least three inner bladders.
 7. The shoe or other footwear as claimedin claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the surface portions formingsaid internal sipe are in contact with each other in an unloadedcondition.
 8. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 7, whereinthe at least one internal sipe partially or completely encapsulates aportion of the sole section, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-sectionwhen the sole section is upright and in an unloaded condition.
 9. Theshoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a roundedpart of each said rounded portion of the sole section between parallelrounded portions of the outer and inner surfaces of the sole section hasa uniform thickness, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when thesole section is upright and in an unloaded condition, and said roundedpart of the sole section which has a uniform thickness extends from alowest point of the sole section to at least proximate a sidemost extentof the side of the sole section, as viewed in a frontal planecross-section when the sole section is upright and in an unloadedcondition.
 10. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a midsole including an elastomeric foam layer of midsolematerial located outside of and separate from said at least one outerbladder, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section.
 11. The solesection as claimed in claim 10, wherein the sole section furthercomprises an elastomeric foam layer of midsole material located outsideof and separate from said at least one outer bladder, as viewed in afrontal-plane cross section.
 12. The sole section as claimed in claim10, wherein the sole section is adapted to be an orthotic and/orremovable from the shoe or other footwear.
 13. The shoe or otherfootwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sole section is adapted tobe an orthotic an/or removable from the shoe or other footwear.
 14. Theshoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shoe solefurther includes at least an elastomeric foam layer of midsole and/orinsole that is located between said at least one outer bladder and afoot sole of a wearer, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section.
 15. Asole section of a sole of a shoe or other footwear, comprising: at leasttwo inner bladders, each said inner bladder containing at least onefluid, and wherein at least a part of each of said at least two innerbladders is located in a single frontal plane cross-section of the solewhen the sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; at least one ductand/or valve providing fluid communication between said at least twoinner bladders; at least one electronic control system including amicroprocessor that controls the fluid communication; at least one outerbladder, outside said inner bladders being located inside said outerbladder; said outer bladder and said inner bladders being separated atleast in part by an internal sipe; and wherein said internal sipe isformed by at least a portion of an inner surface of said outer bladderand at least a portion of an outer surface of each of said innerbladders; and the inner and outer surface portions forming the sipeoppose each other and therefore can move relative to each other in asliding motion; and said sole section being adapted for use in a shoesole including at least a bottom sole portion.
 16. The sole section asclaimed in claim 15, comprising: at least three inner bladders, andwherein at least a part of each of said at least three inner bladders islocated in a single frontal plane cross-section of the sole when thesole is upright and in an unloaded condition; and two or more ductsand/or valves providing fluid communication between said at least threeinner bladders.
 17. The sole section as claimed in claim 15, wherein atleast a portion of said surface portions that form said at least oneinternal sipe are in contact with each other in an unloaded condition.18. The sole section as claimed in claim 17, wherein the at least oneinternal sipe partially or completely encapsulates a portion of thesole, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the sole isupright and in an unloaded condition.
 19. The sole section as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the sole section further includes at least anelastomeric foam layer of midsole and/or insole, the sole layer beinglocated between said at least one outer bladder and a foot sole of awearer of the shoe or other footwear, as viewed in a frontal planecross-section.
 20. The sole section as claimed in claim 15, furthercomprising a secondary outersole and the bladders are separate from thesecondary outer sole of the sole section.
 21. A shoe or other footwearcomprising: a shoe upper having sides, and a shoe sole including abottom sole portion, and a sole section that is separate from the bottomsole portion; at least a portion of the sides of said shoe upper beingattached directly to the bottom sole portion, such that upper envelopes,on the outside, at least the sole section of said shoe sole, such thatthe sole section of said shoe sole is located within a structure formedby a combination of said bottom sole portion and a portion of said upperthat is attached to said bottom sole portion, as viewed in a frontalplane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloadedcondition; at least two inner bladders, each inner bladder containing atleast one fluid, and wherein at least a part of each of said at leasttwo inner bladders is located in a single frontal plane cross-section ofthe sole when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; oneor more ducts and/or valves providing fluid communication between saidat least two inner bladders; at least one electronic control systemincluding a microprocessor that controls the fluid communication; andthe sole section further including at least one outer bladder, saidinner bladders being located inside said outer bladder; and said outerbladder and said inner bladders being separated at least in part by aninternal sipe; and wherein said internal sipe is formed by at least aportion of an inner surface of said outer bladder and at least a portionof an outer surface of each of said inner bladders; and the inner andouter surface portions forming the sipe oppose each other and thereforecan move relative to each other in a sliding motion.
 22. The shoe orother footwear as claimed in claim 21, wherein the at least two innerbladders, the ducts and/or valves and said at least one electroniccontrol system are located in the sole section.
 23. A shoe or otherfootwear as claimed in claim 21, wherein at least a portion of saidinternal sipe surfaces are in contact with each other in an unloadedcondition, and wherein the at least one internal sipe partially orcompletely encapsulates a portion of the shoe sole, as viewed in afrontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in anunloaded condition.
 24. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim21, wherein the sole further comprises an elastomeric foam layer ofmidsole located outside of and separate from said at least one outerbladder.
 25. The shoe or other footwear as claimed in claim 21, whereinthe sole section is adapted to be an orthotic removable from the shoe orother footwear.
 26. The shoe or other footwear or orthotic as claimed inclaim 21, wherein the sole further includes at least an elastomeric foamlayer of midsole and/or insole located between said at least one outerbladder and a foot sole of a wearer of the shoe, as viewed in a frontalplane cross-section.